Nikolaj Ehlers scored the winner in overtime to push the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday to even their Eastern Conference Finals at 1-1.
The winner was Ehlers’ second goal of the contest, and Eric Robinson also scored for Carolina.
Josh Anderson scored twice for the Canadiens, who were able to mount just 12 shots on goal in the game.
Frederik Andersen stopped 10 of 12 shots to pick up the victory. Jakub Dobes turned away 23 of 26 shots in the loss.
The Hurricanes were controlling possession and wearing down the clock until the Canadiens finally found their golden opportunity - a puck that seemed to bounce in front of the Hurricanes’ crease was finally deposited into the net by Anderson for his second goal of the game to even the score at 2-2 late in the third period.
The goal was Anderson’s 12th consecutive in the playoffs that either pulled his team even or gave his team the lead in a remarkable streak of clutch production.
The Hurricanes finally broke the tie with a pretty goal by Ehlers late in the tightly-checked second frame. The former Winnipeg Jets star put on a couple of moves alone in the offensive zone before sliding the puck between Dobes’ legs for the goal to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead.
Midway through the opening period, Taylor Hall got caught with a careless clearing pass out of his defensive zone that was intercepted at the blue line. A sequence of passes ended on Anderson’s stick, who beat Andersen to get the Canadiens on the board and even the score at 1-1.
Just like in the series opener, Carolina who cashed in a very early goal. William Carrier took an innocent shot from distance, and Robinson got a stick on the puck for an awkward redirect that beat Dobes for a 1-0 Hurricanes lead after just 2:33 of game time.
The Habs and Hurricanes traded goals within the first minute of action in the series opener on Thursday.
The win gives the Hurricanes some momentum as the series shifts back to Montreal tied 1-1.
