The Canes scored five goals in the third period to defeat the Stars 6-4.
The Carolina Hurricanes put together a five-goal third period rally last night to beat the Dallas Stars 6-4.
The Canes...
1. Special Special Teams
The Carolina Hurricanes are a top-10 team in both the penalty kill and the power play and they showed that last night as their special teams certainly stayed special last night.
Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho each returned the favor to one another for dueling shorthanded goals (let's be honest even though the second one wasn't technically a SHG, the whole play starts and finishes before the skater out of the box can even join play).
And then the power play came through in the clutch with two go-ahead goals from both Shayne Gostisbehere and Martin Necas - that goal also tied Necas for the league lead in scoring with 35 points.
They had to wait a long time before getting even one power play chance, but they certainly made them count when they finally did get them.
2. Seth Jarvis, Welcome Back
The Canes were without Seth Jarvis for seven games and while the team did manage a 4-2-1 record in that span, you were instantly reminded of just how much impact he can have on a game last night.
The 22 year old was far and away the Hurricanes' best player with shorthanded goal, three points and a 76.92 CF%.
He was flying all over the ice and made his presence felt.
"I was just trying to bring energy and try to drag everybody into the fight especially after the start," Jarvis said. "I mean, you can't ask for much more."
When the Canes needed a spark, Jarvis was there to provide it.
And who would have thought that he'd be able to jump right back in and make a difference after missing a good chunk of time.
"You're not really sure how the kid's going to respond," Brind'Amour said. "He hadn't practiced. I mean, he practiced on his own, but... you don't know what he's going to bring and obviously he was the best player, I thought, on the ice. So he's a special player, we've known that and to do it after sitting out for a couple of weeks or whatever, that says a lot about him."
"I felt better than I initially thought I was gonna, but it was honestly just getting used to the speed again," Jarvis said. "Getting used to guys flying at you after two weeks of just stick handling through cones. It was a good game to kick it off."
3. Saves When They Matter
A quick glance at the stat sheet from last night's game won't do Spencer Martin any favors, but he played a big part in the win for Carolina, especially in the third period.
The first and third goals against came from in-zone turnovers leading to chances all alone in front of Martin. You probably want a save on the second and fourth goals against, but both were really good shots, post-and-in and then top corner.
Regardless, the saves that Martin did make came in some very big moments of the game.
"I think I was just feeding off of the team's energy," Martin said. "We had the momentum so it was easy for me to get excited and make a big save."
I think back to the the in-alone save on Roope Hintz and the kick save on Matt Duchene. Both came in critical moments of the third period that allowed Carolina to build a carry momentum toward taking the lead.
With the current goalie situation, you really aren't expecting Martin to be the best player on the ice, but he just needs to make a difference when it matters and he did just that.
"It's always about when you make your saves," Brind'Amour said. "That was critical. Big, big saves there. I know it's not a lot of shots against, but it was a lot of good ones when they got there's. I thought he was good."