RALEIGH, N.C. — It was a time coming, and the Carolina Hurricanes continued to persist, when their big men and power play played a big role.
It turns out they were right.
Also in time to keep the Hurricanes in their Stanley Cup Finals series against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Seth Jarvis slammed Carter Hart’s one-timer on the power play at the 3:56 mark of overtime — a breakthrough moment for Jarvis and a unit that had faltered throughout the playoffs — to lift the Hurricanes past the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 on Thursday night.
It ended a night that saw Carolina go into the third period up 2-0 and looking outmatched, scoring three unanswered goals, then regrouping after giving up a late equalizer to force overtime.
Just as importantly, the Hurricanes went from staring at an 0-2 series deficit after losing twice at home to heading west on a tied series after a surprising turn in fortune.
Carolina’s power play entered the night just 7 of 58 (12.1%) after ranking fourth in the regular season at 24.9%. But that unit struck twice to change everything Thursday night, first when captain Jordan Staal redirected Shane Gostisbehere’s shot to beat Carter Hart off the top of the net for a 3-2 lead with the man advantage.
Then came the end for Jarvis, just the fourth goal of the playoffs for the standout forward who led the team with 32 goals in the regular season.
When he buried the shot from the left circle, he skated toward the blue line and dropped to one knee to slide across the ice as the Hurricanes bench spilled onto the ice in a stunning celebration.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will be played Saturday in Las Vegas.