Logan Stankoven started things off early with a goal just under eight minutes into the match, but not long after Nikolaj Ehlers fell to injury after he was tangled with Erik Karlsson in the corner boards. Thankfully, he returned at the start of the second frame and played the rest of the game.<\/p>\n
Less than 20 seconds after Ehlers\u2019 injury, Anthony Mantha tied the game with under a minute left to play in the first period.<\/p>\n
As the second period opened, so did the onslaught of penalties.<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes spent eight minutes in the box, with six of those being in the Penguins\u2019 favor. The third penalty \u2013 drawn as William Carrier closed his hand on the puck \u2013 resulted in a power play goal from Bryan Rust, which gave Pittsburgh the lead.<\/p>\n
The fourth penalty, however, was taken by Alexander Nikishin, who also drew one on Noel Acciari as he pulled the Penguins winger into a duel while their teams duked it out in a scrum. However, it only resulted in matching roughing penalties as they more or less just gripped onto each other.<\/p>\n
Eric Robinson tried stuffing the puck and it led to a nice little scrum \u2014 Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) March 11, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Things Got Wild in the Third Period<\/p>\n In the third period, the Hurricanes finally got control of their game and kept a clean frame, with Mark Jankowski tying the game and Seth Jarvis giving them the go-ahead goal.<\/p>\n This time, the Penguins kept the penalty box bench warm, and even gave the Hurricanes a pair of two-man advantages.<\/p>\n Nikishin was able to convert on a very well executed back-and-forth play to even out the special teams goals and give the hurricanes the two-goal lead. If the scrum with Acciari amounted to anything more than roughing, Nikishin would have gotten a Gordie Howe hat-trick. It wouldn\u2019t be the first time he came close to one this season, and I would be surprised if it was the last.<\/p>\n However, with over two minutes left in the game, the arena DJ thought it wise to blare out the Hurricanes\u2019 celebratory song, \u2018Sweet Caroline\u2019, which is typically played in the final seconds of a sure-fire win game.<\/p>\n And can you guess what happened? Acciari and Rust evened the game out while Stuart Skinner hit the bench.<\/p>\n And Then Came Overtime<\/p>\n Overtime ensued, which saw the rare sight of Jaccob Slavin entering the penalty box after hardly a slash to the stick of Anthony Mantha. However, it was apparently no issue that Mantha followed it up by mowing down<\/a> goaltender Frederik Andersen.<\/p>\n Despite some attempts back and forth, no goals were scored which then led into the shootout.<\/p>\n Seth Jarvis, Andrei Svechnikov, and Jackson Blake went out for the Hurricanes, while Ben Kindel, Egor Chinakhov, and Anthony Mantha did so for the Penguins. Both Svechnikov and Blake were able to find twine, but Kindel was the lone Penguin to have such luck.<\/p>\n The Hurricanes took the game 5-4, but will have to see them again next Wednesday.<\/p>\n Frederik Andersen had a little assist with distractions straight from the freakin’ Mushroom Kingdom in the shootout \ud83e\udd23 pic.twitter.com\/Bs6860KPVy<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) March 11, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Special Teams Performed Well<\/p>\n Going into the game<\/a>, the Hurricanes were at a notable disadvantage, as they ranked 11th (22.5%) in the power play and 14th (79.4%) in the penalty kill to the Penguins\u2019 sixth (25.3%) in the power play and second (84.4%) in the penalty kill. Additionally, they were without their usual power play quarterback, Shayne Gostisbehere, who missed his second straight game due to a lower-body injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, they had four notable runs shorthanded, and killed four of five penalties while scoring on one of five power plays.<\/p>\n \t\t \t\tRachel Barkley is a beat writer covering the Carolina Hurricanes for Carolina Hockey Now on Sportsnaut. Painting stories with … More about Rachel Barkley<\/a><\/p>\n \t
Alexander Nikishin tried going at it with Noel Acciari, but it didn’t lead to a full-on fight, just some roughing around
The divisional rivalry, playoff style hockey is already heating up and I’m here for it\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/RsqZwFjOFN<\/a><\/p>\n![\"avatar\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773216076_744_ab783896b73f675bc93cb7c5b0a070ee9f363e9b6b751c7e80dcfd1fd7431eb5.png\")
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