The Carolina Hurricanes won their second consecutive road playoff game in overtime, outlasting the New York Islanders 1-0 on Saturday backstopped by goaltender Petr Mrazek.
Jordan Staal was the overtime hero, notching his fourth goal of the postseason off of a funny carom behind the Islanders goal. The goal, though, was set up by an Isles mistake.
With New York on a rush, winger Cal Clutterbuck attempts to leave a pass for a late arriving teammate. His pass is off the mark however, and Nino Niederreiter corrals the puck and starts the Canes transition.
Niederreiter opts not to shoot the puck as Devon Toews creeps closer to him. Instead, Niederreiter tries to find Brett Pesce who begins calling for the puck as he approaches the blue line. Pesce’s backhand attempt is stopped by Lehner but Teuvo Teravainen is able to shovel the puck to open space, allowing Carolina to maintain possession.
Niederreiter eventually attempts a falling shot that goes wide, but the aggressive positioning of Pesce again allows Carolina to keep possession.
Facing light pressure, Pesce finds Niederreiter in the high slot. Anthony Beauvillier loses track of Niederreiter and the Swiss winger gets a look at the net. His bid goes wide, but Jordan Staal is able to beat Toews to the loose puck and fire it past Robin Lehner.
Through a screen, it appears Lehner loses track of the puck once it goes wide. His head whips around to locate the puck but it’s too late.
As a larger goalie, Lehner does not move as quickly as some of his smaller counterparts. It appears that had Lehner tracked the puck initially, he may have had time to push off his post and get all the way over to make a save on Staal. Instead, he reacts late and throws out a pad in desperation. Staal banks the puck off of Lehner’s outstretched leg and the Canes win the game and lead the series 1-0.