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Carolina Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal (11) celebrates after his goal against Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart (79) during the third period in Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, June 4, 2026.<\/p>\n
Karl B DeBlaker\/AP Photo\/Karl B DeBlaker<\/p>\n
Carolina Hurricanes’ Jordan Martinook (48), Seth Jarvis (24), Shayne Gostisbehere (4), and Logan Stankoven (22) ceelbrate after Jarvis scored the game-winning goal against against the Vegas Golden Knights in overtime of Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, June 4, 2026.<\/p>\n
Ben McKeown\/AP Photo\/Ben McKeown<\/p>\n
The Carolina Hurricanes players celebrate after the winning goal by Hurricanes’ Seth Jarvis (24) against the Vegas Golden Knights during overtime in Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, June 4, 2026.<\/p>\n
Ben McKeown\/AP Photo\/Ben McKeown<\/p>\n
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) \u2014 The Carolina Hurricanes looked a step behind, down two goals and chasing a tested team filled with Stanley Cup winners from three years ago. And the pressure had been building for weeks on Seth Jarvis and the power play.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSomebody had to step up and make a play,\u201d coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour said simply.<\/p>\n
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A shocking third-period comeback changed everything, both in getting the Hurricanes back in the Stanley Cup Final and setting the stage for Jarvis and that power-play unit to get a needed breakthrough moment.<\/p>\n
Jarvis blasted a one-timer past Carter Hart on a power play at 3:56 of overtime to lift the Hurricanes past the Vegas Golden Knights. 4-3 on Thursday night. That ended a night that saw Carolina trail 2-0 entering the third period after looking outmatched through the second, rally with three unanswered goals, then regroup after giving up a tying goal late to force the OT.<\/p>\n
Just as importantly, the Hurricanes went from staring at an 0-2 series deficit after losing twice at home to heading West for Game 3 on Saturday in a tied series after an abrupt turn of fortune.<\/p>\n
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The time was coming, the Hurricanes kept insisting, when their top-line guys and the power play would make big plays.<\/p>\n
Turns out, they were right.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is exciting, this is what playoff hockey is all about,” said Jarvis, who admitted the winning score was a \u201chuge\u201d weight off his shoulders. “It’s tight games and momentum swings and you never really know what’s going to happen next.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Unexpected comeback<\/p>\n
Indeed, Vegas’ roster filled with Cup winners from 2023 looked every bit in control of this one. Yet the Hurricanes pulled off a comeback that will earn a spot in franchise lore alongside moments like the 2002 \u201cMolson Miracle\u201d at Montreal \u2014 when they rallied from a 3-0 hole entering the third before winning in 4-3 OT in Round 2 \u2014 or the 2009 first-round shocker at New Jersey when the Hurricanes scored twice in the final 80 seconds for another 4-3 win in Game 7.<\/p>\n
It started with a tough effort by Logan Stankoven to beat Rasmus Andersson for a puck along the boards before coming behind the net to throw one off the skate of Jeremy Lauzon in the crease to slip by Hart for a life-infusing score at the 10:20 mark.<\/p>\n
Mark Jankowski followed, coming when linemate William Carrier kept the entry alive while tussling with Lauzon and fed him for a score. This one stuck, coming after Jankowski had an overtime winner waved off in Game 2 of the first-round series against Ottawa and a second goal later waved off against Philadelphia for a goaltender-interference review on Carrier.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt’s nice to sit on the bench and look over and see they’re not challenging it,\u201d Jankowski said.<\/p>\n
Even more surprising, the power play carried the Hurricanes home.<\/p>\n
Jarvis, power play come through in clutch<\/p>\n
Carolina’s power play entered the night just 7 of 58 (12.1%) in the playoffs after ranking fourth in the regular season at 24.9%. But, that unit struck twice to change everything on Thursday night, first with captain Jordan Staal redirecting Shayne Gostisbehere’s shot to beat Carter Hart from the top of the crease for a 3-2 lead with the man advantage.<\/p>\n
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Then, after Vegas got a tying goal off Mark Stone’s skate with 1:21 left in regulation \u2014 coming when Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin knocking a loose rebound past Frederik Andersen into the net while clear the crease \u2014 Carolina came up with a rousing response in OT.<\/p>\n
The fact it was Jarvis who got it only magnified the scope of the moment. The winning blast marked only the fourth goal of the playoffs for Jarvis, a top-line forward who led the team with 32 regular-season goals and played for Canada’s silver-medalist team at the Milan Cortina Olympics.<\/p>\n
Brind’Amour had said multiple times in recent weeks that the Sebastian Aho-centered line featuring Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov had largely played other top lines to even. The Hurricanes had rolled to a 12-1 record through the Eastern Conference playoffs while the Stankoven-centered second line or the third line featuring open-ice speedster Nikolaj Ehlers carried the scoring.<\/p>\n
But Brind’Amour cautioned Wednesday: \u201cWe need them to get going.\u201d<\/p>\n
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And after Vegas went ahead 2-0 on Brett Howden’s second terrific individual effort, Brind’Amour swapped Jarvis with Jordan Martinook midway through the second period to put Jarvis alongside Ehlers and Staal \u2014 a move that led to an immediate goal for Jarvis in Game 2 of the second-round series against the Flyers.<\/p>\n
This time, Jarvis buried the shot from the left circle off a feed from Gostisbehere up top. A crowd buzzing since the start of the third-period comeback erupted, with Jarvis skating toward the blue line and dropping to one knee to slide across the ice.<\/p>\n
The win improved Carolina to 6-0 in overtime during the playoffs. That includes all four Game 2s in this postseason at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was desperation,” Stankoven said. “I think we needed to try to get that split tonight.”<\/p>\n
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