For about 50 minutes during Thursday's contest, all signs pointed to the Carolina Hurricanes flying to Vegas in a 2-0 hole with a ton of work to do to get back into the series. Instead, they found some magic in the third period, nearly lost their spark late in regulation, and came out with an overtime win to tie the series. As you might guess, there's no shortage of emotion on full display.
Game 2: Brett Howden scored the first two goals across the opening 40 minutes. Logan Stankoven got a bounce to break the shutout in the third, and Mark Jankowski tied it shortly after. Jordan Staal gave the Canes the lead on the power play, but Mark Stone forced overtime with the extra skater on the ice. In overtime, Seth Jarvis scored another on the power play in a 4-3 Carolina win.
On the Other Side: Vegas Golden Knights
Despite losing Game 2, the Golden Knights still control home ice after their series-opening victory on Tuesday. Vegas is 6-2 at T-Mobile Arena during these playoffs, including wins in their last three contests. Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals saw them fall behind 3-0 in the first period before scoring five unanswered goals to beat Colorado.
One roster update to pay attention to concerns defenseman Brayden McNabb. He exited Game 2 midway through the first period after taking Nikolaj Ehlers' 87 MPH one-timer to the nose. It might've caught some of his visor, but there certainly appears to be some structural damage. It was reported that McNabb left the arena and was taken to the hospital, but he traveled home with the team.
What to Watch in Game 3
Keeping their mojo on the road: As you might already know, the Carolina Hurricanes have only lost twice this postseason. None of those losses have come on the road. They've played six games away from the Lenovo Center, Games 3 and 4 in Ottawa, Philadelphia, and Montreal. They've come out of all six games with a victory. Their most recent against Montreal was particularly good.
Vegas is a different kind of animal than the three opponents they've faced this postseason, as we've seen during the first two games. They've been good at home. Something will have to give. In a perfect world, the Canes come out of the next two games with two wins. In a slightly more realistic world, I'd be perfectly content with a split to regain home ice advantage.
A building block performance for the top line and power play: The Hurricanes switched up their lines during Game 2, trying to find a spark offensively. While the two goals at 5-on-5 came from the two lines that weren't changed, it did the trick, helping the power play score twice. Andrei Svechnikov assisted on the go-ahead goal, and Sebastian Aho helped set up Seth Jarvis in overtime.
With all three on the scoresheet, the Canes need to see that snowball into something bigger for their top trio. It's unclear whether the lines from the end of the game will remain in place, and we likely won't know until their morning skate. If they do revert to their original alignment, we need to see this lead to a stronger game for the top line, which in turn helps the power play tremendously.
