Recap: Carolina Hurricanes 5, Arizona Coyotes 4 - Late Heroics Seal a Weekend Sweep

The Carolina Hurricanes entered Sunday's matchup with the Arizona Coyotes looking for a weekend sweep. They got it, in heart-stopping fashion.

A last-minute power play goal by Justin Faulk, his co-league-leading 9th of the season with the extra skater, completed a furious comeback by the Canes and sent the home crowd of 9,021 home happy with a 5-4 win over the Coyotes.

A seesaw affair started early, with the Coyotes scoring on their second shot just 49 seconds into the game. Tobias Rieder found himself all alone with an out-of-position Cam Ward and eased the puck into a wide open net. Just over a minute later, the Canes tied it up courtesy of Kris Versteeg, who responded from his healthy scratch on Saturday by settling down a bouncing puck and wristing it past a surprised Anders Lindback at 2:18.

Later in the period, it was another pair of traded goals to send the game into the intermission tied at 2, first from Nicklas Grossmann at 16:55 and then Jay McClement at 18:36.

A slow-starting second period suddenly picked up six minutes in, when Eric Staal scored on the Canes' first shot of the period. Versteeg forced a turnover by deflecting a pass, and Elias Lindholm had all day to set up Staal for his fifth of the season at 6:27.

From there, though, the Canes started looking lethargic, feeling the effects of two games in less than 24 hours. The Coyotes took advantage, Stefan Elliott tying the game again at 6:36 of the third period, and Antoine Vermette giving the visitors the lead on the power play at 13:41.

Suddenly, out of almost nowhere, the Canes got their second wind. Ron Hainsey tied the game again at 15:38 after preventing a puck from leaving the zone by gloving it down and snapping it past Lindback. Then, following the expiration of a Coyotes power play, Faulk did what he does, winding up and letting rip from the blue line with 17 seconds remaining to cap an improbable comeback and sweep the weekend.

"It's a good character win," said Canes coach Bill Peters. "If you keep doing good things long enough, you'll get rewarded."

The Canes, whose weekend performance saw them leapfrog Toronto and Columbus in the Eastern Conference standings and now sit six points out of a playoff spot, now hit the road for four games starting Tuesday in Dallas.