RALEIGH Hurricanes coach Bill Peters harkened back to the 1987 Viking Cup, a 9-8 thriller against Czechoslovakia, as the last time he was involved in a game like Carolina’s come-from-behind 8-6 win Tuesday over Vancouver.How long ago was that? Long enough that Peters didn’t recall the right year there was no Viking Cup in 1987. Point being, a game like that doesn’t come along very often, and when it does it’s often at an international tournament that happened back when hair metal was still a thing.The four-goalie, 14-goal extravaganza at PNC Arena was one for the ages, with Carolina scoring six goals in the third period to erase a three-goal lead and win its seventh straight at home. The baker’s dozen-plus-one scored by the two teams was the most in an NHL game this season, and Carolina’s six third-period tallies matched a franchise high (more on this in a bit). Where does Tuesday’s game rank among the wildest regular season home wins in Hurricanes history? That’s up for debate, but here are a few of the crazier games up there with it.Oct. 31, 2000: Hurricanes 6, Lighting 5 (OT)The teams went to overtime after Carolina scored three times in third to surge ahead 5-2, only to see the Lightning tie it with three goals in the final 3:48. Less than a month into his tenure with Carolina, defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh got his third point of the night when he scored the overtime winner on future Hurricanes goalie Kevin Weekes to give Carolina the win. With Arturs Irbe in Latvia to attend his grandmother’s funeral, Tyler Moss got the start and victory. It was his only win with the Hurricanes and the final of five he had in his NHL career.Oct. 28, 2005: Hurricanes 8, Flyers 6After Tuesday’s win, this is currently “the other 8-6 game.” Just a month into their eventual Stanley Cup-winning season, the Hurricanes outscored the Flyers 5-1 in the third period and put the league on notice by coming from two goals down for the third straight game. The night featured 16 power plays, with Philadelphia scoring four times and Carolina three, and Eric Staal got his first career hat trick.Jan. 11, 2007: Hurricanes 6, Panthers 4Down 3-0 heading into the third, Carolina scored five straight goals to surge ahead of Florida. Olli Jokinen’s second score of the game pulled the Panthers within one with 56 seconds left, but Ray Whitney’s empty-netter sealed the 6-4 win. It was the 16th and final three-assist game of Rod Brind’Amour’s career. The six-goal third period stood alone as the most in the final frame in Hurricanes history until Tuesday’s matching effort.April 7, 2009: Hurricanes 9, Islanders 0Three players had four points, including Eric Staal with the eighth of his 13 career hat tricks, in handing the Islanders their worst loss in franchise history. It was the second four-assist game in a month for Erik Cole the only two he had in his career and Anton Babchuk’s four helpers marked a career high for points in a game. Cam Ward had to make just 12 saves to earn the shutout and his 39th win of the season a new franchise record that still stands. It was the ninth straight win for Carolina, who then lost the final two games of the season before making a postseason run to the Eastern Conference Finals, losing to eventual champion Pittsburgh.Dec. 31, 2013: Hurricanes 5, Canadiens 4 (OT)Montreal led 3-0 after two periods and Montreal goalie Carey Price looked unstoppable, shutting down two Carolina 5-on-3 power plays. But like Tuesday, Jeff Skinner took over in the third. He scored two power play goals in the first 2:15 of the period, then assisted on Eric Staal’s tying tally less than two minutes later. Manny Malhotra’s goal gave Carolina the lead, but P.K. Subban scored on the power play midway through the period to tie it back up. In overtime, Alexander Semin collected the puck and wheeled around from the left faceoff dot, firing the puck past Price to send Hurricanes fans into the new year with a win.
