RALEIGH — In many ways, Thursday’s game wasn’t one Hurricanes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere will want to play on a loop at a family gathering.
His wipeout in the neutral zone early in the second period allowed Utah winger Kailer Yamamoto to score his first of two goals and tie the game after Carolina dominated the opening 20 minutes.
Then with just 13 minutes left in the game, Yamamoto pestered the Hurricanes defenseman into a turnover and a goal by Michael Carcone to give the visiting Mammoth what seemed like a nail-in-the-coffin two-goal lead.
But Gostisbehere — returning to the lineup after missing the last five games — and the Hurricanes not only fought back, but they also pulled off one of the best rallies in NHL history.
Andrei Svechnikov, Gostisbehere and Jordan Staal scored three times in 89 seconds, with Staal’s goal coming with just under 30 seconds remaining, to turn a multigoal deficit into a 5-4 Hurricanes win at Lenovo Center.
“Just forget,” Gostisbehere said of moving past his miscues, “or score right after so you forget about it.”
It was just the third time in league history that a team trailing by two goals with under two minutes remaining ended up winning in regulation.
The rally started with Gostisbehere and Svechnikov.
With Carolina on a four-minute power play due to a high sticking penalty by Barrett Hayton and Brandon Bussi (21 saves) on the bench for an extra attacker, Gostisbehere shot wide to the right of Karel Vejmelka (27 saves), but the puck hit the end boards and popped right to Svechnikov. He banged it into the vacant net for his second goal of the night and 20th of the season — matching last season’s total.
His 10 goals and 18 points in January are both career bests for one month, but Svechnikov said he doesn’t notice anything different about his play.
“No, same, exactly the same,” he said. “You know, feel the same — same person, same player.”
Gostisbehere, who had scored his seventh goal of the year on the power play to tie the game in the second period, got his second of the night 22 seconds after Svechnikov’s goal.
With Bussi again on the bench for a sixth skater, Jackson Blake zipped a diagonal pass to Gostisbehere at the right point for a one-timer that hit the cross bar and went in to tie the game.
“It is always about your next shift, good or bad,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “You score a goal, you don’t sit there patting yourself on the back. You’ve got to go do something about it. The same thing if you give up a goal. Ghost has been around. I don’t think he gets too flustered.”
Then the Hurricanes seized the momentum to get the winner.
Defenseman Jalen Chatfield took a shot from the outside edge of the right circle. Jordan Martinook tipped the shot, and the puck went to Staal at the left post, where he knocked it in for his 12th goal of the year.
“We were just kind of riding the wave,” Staal said. “But obviously, things weren’t clicking and it finally clicked. To get those three goals that quickly and in that short period of time to win the game was really cool.”
Gostisbehere and Svechnikov each finished with three points.
“You saw him tonight,” Staal said of Svechnikov. “He was not only scoring goals, but he was physical, he was hard, he was skating well. And he’s got his strength back and his speed. … He’s the player that we all know he can be. And this year he’s been solid all throughout.”
And despite struggling much of the night on the power play, Carolina managed to score two key goals on five opportunities.
“It’s sticking with it,” Gostisbehere said. “The entries weren’t beautiful, but at the end of the day, when you get two goals on power play, you know it’s going to help you win.”
And it did the Hurricanes extended their point streak to six games and further tightened their grip on the Metropolitan Division lead on Whalers Night.
“It’s always nice to score goals, especially game winners,” Staal said. “It’s making memories, and I love the game, I love being a part of of nights like this, and you want more of them. You’re chasing them, and you’re chasing those memories.
“And to do it alongside these guys in this room, the friends, and battle with each other is what I live for. It’s what I do this job for, and tonight was one of the good memories.”
Notes: Eric Robinson (upper-body injury) and Mike Reilly (healthy) did not play for Carolina. … Sebastian Aho won 14 of 19 faceoffs. … Carolina outshot Utah 14-4 in the third period. … Yamamoto finished with three points for the first time this season.
