Four overtimes may be unfamiliar to Hurricanes, but a goalie on a heater is not
While not all that many humans walking the face of the planet Earth have ever seen anything like Thursday-into-Friday’s game — two of the five games that ran longer in the history of the NHL were played in the 1930s — there were a few parts of it that were all too familiar to the Carolina Hurricanes.
With his 63 saves, coming off a 50-save single overtime win to close out the previous round, Sergei Bobrovsky became the first goalie to have back-to-back 50-save performances since Juuse Saros did it. In 2021. Against the Hurricanes.
Which is to say, while they may not have played a four-overtime game or the Florida Panthers in the playoffs previously, the Hurricanes have seen this before. They played two double-overtime games against the Nashville Predators, couldn’t find a way past Saros in the extra frames, lost both and ended up winning the series in six games anyway. In overtime.
Those four overtimes were played over three days on the road, not three hours at home, but the Hurricanes found a way past Saros eventually. Bobrovsky, on a better team with higher stakes, is a different kind of challenge.
The Hurricanes were hoping the six days off between series might cool Bobrovsky off, especially since he didn’t come into the postseason as the Panthers’ starter, a struggling veteran thrown into the mix and rediscovering his form. That didn’t happen. But they also had to, deep down and realistically, figure he was going to steal a game at some point in this series. They have to make sure Game 1 was it.
Frederik Andersen actually had to make more spectacular saves in the almost 80 minutes of overtime than Bobrovsky did — that pad save on Sebastian Aho less than a minute before Matthew Tkachuk ended it turned out to be a massive one — but Bobrovsky was at his best as the Hurricanes poured it on in the third period, hoping to avoid overtime altogether.
Both of their goals came on the power play, an area where the Hurricanes were expected to have a massive advantage, and did. But they’re not going to make it through this series if they can’t score at five-on-five, especially since they’ve been at their best in the postseason when fewer penalties are called on either team and they can roll four lines and build momentum.
Which is exactly what happened in the third after the Hurricanes tied the score on the power play early in the period, just without a goal to show for it.
The goaltending dynamic is likely to change a little bit going into Saturday. Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour, Friday afternoon, was openly considering his options in net — “(Andersen) played the whole game, you have to” — and has Antti Raanta, who has been outstanding in PNC Arena this season despite a hard-luck loss in Game 5 of the first round, rested and available if he chooses to go that route.
But the Panthers benched Alex Lyon after he struggled to start their first-round series against the Boston Bruins and there’s no inclination to go back. They’re yoked to Bobrovsky for the duration, and his 34-year-old legs may not have the spring in them Saturday they had Thursday or early Friday. At least, that’s what the Hurricanes hope. (A 37-year-old Dominik Hasek gave up a single goal in two games after the triple-OT marathon in 2002, but these Panthers aren’t those Detroit Red Wings.)
The Hurricanes found the recipe for five-on-five success in the third period Thursday, but couldn’t close the deal. They found a way past Saros, eventually, in 2021. They’ll need an eighth period to find a way past Bobrovsky at even strength.
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This story was originally published May 19, 2023 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Four overtimes may be unfamiliar to Hurricanes, but a goalie on a heater is not."
