Music: {allcanada} Hurricanes rally for OT win vs. Canadiens

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

{allcanada} Hurricanes rally for OT win vs. Canadiens

Days of Our Lives 2013

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Carolina Hurricanes forward Alexander Semin scored on a snap shot from the left faceoff circle with 1:33 remaining in overtime to cap a dramatic 5-4 comeback win against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.

The Canadiens seemed to be on their way to an easy win, leading 3-0 after two periods, but Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner scored a pair of power-play goals 37 seconds apart before setting up Eric Staal for the tying goal less than two minutes later.

Manny Malhotra scored at 8:16 to give the Hurricanes a 4-3 lead, but P.K. Subban answered two minutes later to even the score at 4-4.

The Hurricanes killed off a double minor for boarding against Staal at the end of the third period and early in overtime before Semin's game-winner.

Skinner put the Hurricanes on the board at 1:38 with a nice move in the left faceoff circle to beat Canadiens goalie Carey Price to the far post; he scored again from the right circle at 2:15.

When Staal finished on a loose puck in front at 4:07, it completed a three-goal comeback in a span of 2:29.

Until the wild third period, Montreal had controlled the game, despite killing 10:14 of Carolina power-play time through two periods.

Lars Eller's ninth goal of the season put the Canadiens on the board 1:20 into the game. Alex Galchenyuk forced a turnover behind the net then pushed a pass to Eller, who slipped the puck past Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward on the backhand.

Pacioretty made it 2-0 at 7:46 when he redirected a pass from David Desharnais from the right circle. The goal came on an abbreviated power play after the teams had skated 4-on-4 for 1:20.

Montreal didn't show much discipline in the first 20 minutes, taking four minor penalties. Price was sharp though, especially during a 37-second sequence of 5-on-3 when he stopped scoring bids by Semin and Jordan Staal.

The penalty-box traffic continued in the second period for Montreal. A bench minor for too many men on the ice quickly followed a slashing penalty by Galchenyuk, leaving Carolina with 1:45 of a two-man advantage. But Montreal was equal to the task, blocking shots and keeping the Hurricanes away from the crease.

Pacioretty's second goal of the night at 14:24 pushed the Montreal lead to 3-0.

Desharnais earned his second assist of the night by winning the faceoff, and Subban stickhandled from the left point to the goal line before laying a backhand pass to Pacioretty at the top of the crease.

Hurricanes forward Riley Nash left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return.

Carolina outshot Montreal 42-25, including by 30-12 over the final two periods.

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