Hurricanes work OT to keep streak intact. How the Canes toppled Pittsburgh at home

The Carolina Hurricanes are creeping closer to first place in the Metropolitan Division, a position they know so well.

The Canes, chasing the New York Rangers all season, moved within one point of the divisional lead Saturday with a 3-2 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at PNC Arena.

Brett Pesce’s second goal of the game was the winner. Pesce took a drop pass from Teuvo Teravainen and got off a shot that goalie Tristian Jarry couldn’t handle with 3:19 left in overtime.

The Hurricanes (24-13-5), getting 38 saves from goalie Antti Raanta, now have points in eight straight games, going 7-0-1.

The Canes took a 2-1 lead into the final minute of regulation. But the Pens pulled Jarry for an extra attacker and Bryan Rust tied the score with 52.7 seconds remaining.

Pesce and Jordan Martinook scored in the first period for a 2-0 lead and it could have been a bigger cushion had Jarry not made some stellar stops.

With goalie Pyotr Kochetkov sidelined indefinitely with a concussion, it’s Raanta’s net for the Canes, and he was gutsy enough Saturday. Despite two big collisions in net in the second period, he gamely played on, and was sharp.

Raanta had Canes fans on their feet and roaring with 13:37 left in the third when he snared a hard slapper by the Pens’ Sidney Crosby. It easily was his best save of the night — possibly the season, considering the shooter.

Crosby, hardly fazed, did get some redemption minutes later when he set up Jake Guentzel for his 19th of the season. And Rust then sent it to overtime.

The Canes played one of their best periods of the season in the first. They grabbed the lead, kept the pressure on Jarry by forcing the Pens into mistakes in the Pittsburgh zone, and then killed off a late slashing penalty on Brent Burns.

There was more penalty killing to be done in the second. Canes forward Andrei Svechnikov was twice sent to the penalty box – for slashing, then holding the stick – and carolina picked up a penalty for too many men on the ice during a PK change.

The Pens began the third period with 48 seconds of power-play time and a fresh ice surface but the Canes killed it off.

Takeaways from the game

▪ Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour is putting on a brave face when it comes to the goaltending, but it has to be unsettling. For now, it’s Raanta in net and first-year pro Yaniv Perets as the backup.

There were some scary moments Saturday. Raanta was knocked down by Guentzel in the second period, was slow getting back to his feet and was left flexing his right leg. Later, on a Pens power play. Guentzel and Jordan Staal landed on Raanta during a scrum at the net.

Brind’Amour noted Saturday that forward Jesper Fast recently was in concussion protocol for about a week before returning, and is hopeful Kochetkov possibly can return quickly. But the timeline is different for every athlete when it comes to concussions.

Frederik Andersen missed his 30th game with his blood-clotting issue Saturday and Raanta has had injury issues in the past.

“We’ll see,” Brind’Amour said before the game. “If something were to happen you’d have a worry. But you don’t brew trouble. We’ve got 20 guys who can go out there and that’s what we’re going to go with.”

▪ Start on time? Jarry did for the Pens. But so did the Canes.

Before many of the patrons had taken a few sips of their favorite beverages, Jarry had stopped Aho on a breakaway. Moments later, he denied Pesce on the backside.

Is that the way the game would go? Jarry here, Jarry there? No, said the Canes.

Pesce beat Jarry after the Canes won a board battle and Aho made a cross-ice pass to set up the defenseman for a shot.

Jarry did manage to get across just in time to knock away a blast by Svechnikov that easily could have been a second Canes score.

But Martinook wouldn’t be denied in front. Outfighting defenseman Ryan Graves for position in front of the crease. Martinook twice banged at the puck before scoring his fourth of the season and third in the past five games.

Before the first period was over Jarry had made big stops on all three forwards on the Aho line as he warded off a Teuvo Teravainen shot.

▪ One final thought about the opening period: Aho could have had a hat trick. Credit Jarry for seeing that he didn’t.

Aho, who’ll be playing in the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, did get the primary assist on the Pesce goal and has 18 points in his past nine games.

▪ Brendan Lemieux is a tough-looking dude, whether on the ice during the game, in the locker room or in a suit on nights when he does not play. He just has the look.

Lemieux is the kind of guy when he hits you, it’s jarring, It causes helmets to rattle around and chin straps to loosen, and the thump can be heard all around the arena.

Lemieux’s fight Thursday after a hit on teammate Jack Drury was a turning point in that game against Anaheim as the Canes went on to a 6-3 win. Lemieux was left with a swollen hand but the point was made.

▪ It always appears Staal has a little extra in his step and play when it’s the Pens, and especially opposing center Evgeny Malkin. Staal won a Stanley Cup with the Pens in 2009 but always played in the shadow of Sidney Crosby and Malkin as the No. 3 center.

Since being traded to Carolina in 2012, Staal hasn’t lacked for energy against his old team.

On a penalty kill late in the second period Saturday, Staal repeatedly got his stick on the puck to clear the zone.

▪ Pesce has played all these seasons, almost 600 games’ worth, and is still an underrated player. In the first, he was knocked down by Crosby in the offensive zone but then stayed down to get in front of a Kris Letang pass intended for Crosby in front of the net.

Pesce’s season has had its highs and lows, like most players and especially D-men. But he’s playing good hockey, and his pairing with Brady Skjei continues to be both rock solid and a fixture on Brind’Amour’s lineup card.