Carolina Hurricanes rally to overtake Minnesota Wild in third 5-3 -NHL Update
Minnesota had it all planned out entering the final period of regulation being up by one, but Carolina was just too focused on making a comeback as Hurricanes gained momentum and rallied to overtake Wild, 5-3, Saturday night, March 17, 2012, at the sold-out
Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Carolina is still far from the playoff divisional line but with 71 points, the Hurricanes are on path to making a potential comeback as they are now only seven points behind eighth place Washington Capitals.
Veteran 35-year-old Hurricanes goalie, Brian Boucher, was in net for Carolina and blocked 23 shots for his first win of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season.
It was his first game since early December of 2011 and being seeing some action after so long definitely had him excited.
"It's been a long time. It feels good to be back out there, and when you haven't played, the game seems a bit fast." Boucher said. "At least I'm not going to get shutout in the wins department this year. I was running out of time. I don't know how many more
starts I'm going to get."
Now seeing that they have a chance at making the playoffs, Carolina is focused on grabbing the last spot at all costs which has head coach, Kirk Muller, giving it his all.
"Before Christmas, we weren't finding ways to win and finding ways to lose," Muller said. "Now the team seems to find a way -- whether it's a good game or not -- to find a tie or a win. We struggled today with a lot of stuff, but we found a way to win the
game and that's what's important this time of the year."
Drayson Bowman broke away on a loose puck for the first of the night followed by an equaliser by Kyle Brodziak.
Nick Johnson and Erik Christensen added two straight for Minnesota in round-two to take the lead as Carolina scored only one from Drayson Bowman, entering the final 20 minutes down, 3-2.
Hurricanes caught fire in the final period as Brandon Sutter and Tim Brent fired off the equaliser and tie-breaker respectively with Chad LaRose securing the match with an insurance shot at 18:45.
Carolina will be going on up North to face Winnipeg Jets on Sunday while Minnesota hosts the hot headed Vancouver Canucks on Monday.
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