RALEIGH The Carolina Hurricanes know what it’s like to dominate a game only to see a lead disappear in the third period. Friday night at PNC Arena they turned the tables on the Boston Bruins, erasing a two-goal deficit and tying the game in the third period before Teuvo Teravainen got an overtime goal for a 3-2 win.”I feel like we’ve been on the other end too many times,” Jordan Staal, who scored Carolina’s first goal of the night on a shorthanded breakaway, said. “Sometimes you lean on your talent and you lean on your skill … to get you wins. You might not have the legs, you might not have everything going for you, but finding ways to win is what good teams do.”The Hurricanes (15-11-7) got off to a listless start, with Boston registering 12 of the game’s first 14 shots. Their 10th resulted in the first goal of the game when a Torey Krug one-timer bounced off the back of Ryan Spooner’s skate and in to make it 1-0.The Bruins (18-14-4) then managed to crack the NHL’s No. 1 penalty kill for a two-goal lead early in the second period. After Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce was called for holding, Boston’s Brad Marchand redirected a Spooner shot and the puck slowly trickled through Cam Ward’s legs to make it 2-0 at 3:17 of the second period.The Hurricanes were seemingly on the ropes. But with Jaccob Slavin in the box for high sticking at the game’s midway point, Staal gave the Hurricanes the boost they needed.Staal pick-pocketed Bruins forward Austin Czarnik at the Carolina blueline, raced the length of the ice and wristed a shot past Boston goalie and former teammate Anton Khudobin to make the score 2-1.”We weren’t perfect early and we knew that,” Carolina coach Bill Peters said. “And the guys were real good about staying with it and we got a spark off that shorthanded goal, gave us a little bit of life.”Despite getting outshot 29-12 through two periods, the Hurricanes trailed by only one goal heading into the third, again leaning on Ward who played the night before in Buffalo to keep them in the game.”I felt comfortable, I felt good for it being a back-to-back,” Ward (31 saves) said. “I just wanted to give our team a chance. Fortunately we were able to come back, but we definitely needed someone to step up. And I think [when Staal] scored on that shorthanded break [it] definitely gave us a spark.”Carolina got two power play opportunities their first two of the game in the final frame’s first five minutes, but couldn’t find the equalizer against a Bruins team that was 15-0-0 when leading after two periods coming into the night.Then coming off the second man-advantage, Staal won a faceoff and Elias Lindholm fed Justin Faulk, who ripped a shot past Khudobin for his seventh goal and third in four games to tie it up.The Bruins were limited to just four shots in the final period, and in overtime Carolina carried the play until Teravainen completed the comeback.The Finnish forward got his ninth goal of the season by carrying the puck from the Hurricanes end, weaving through the neutral zone, deking once on Ryan Spooner and rifling the puck over Khudobin’s blocker for the win.”I think I just tried to come with the speed, tried to use the D-man with the screen and just shoot,” Teravainen said.Peters, whose team is now 10-0-1 in its last 11 home games, sees his team seven points behind Philadelphia for the second wild card spot but with three games in hand heading into the holiday break.”You know what? As a group of coaches going into the break, we’re happy with where we’re at,” Peters said. “We’ve given ourself chance coming out of the break to mount a push and start reeling some teams in.”Notes: Ward improved to 12-8-6 on the season. … Staal’s shorthanded goal was Carolina’s fifth of the season, all by different players. … Lindholm had two assists, his second two-assists game in the last five outings. … Faulk’s seven goals are tied for fifth among NHL defenseman. He had a team-high seven shots on goal and has nine even-strength points in his last eight games. … Carolina outhit the Bruins 26-11.
