By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jordan Martinook beat Linus Ullmark from the slot at 13:53 of the second overtime to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Monday night and take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Martinook — who was stopped on a penalty shot in the first OT — kept the winning play alive by chasing down a loose rebound toward the boards to keep the possession in the offensive zone. Moments later, Nikolaj Ehlers found Martinook between the circles to beat Ullmark, who was partially shielded by Carolina captain Jordan Staal at the top of the crease.
That set off a mob celebration by the Hurricanes around Martinook in a corner of the ice, ending a game that saw them hang on despite blowing a 2-0 lead and having an apparent winner by Mark Jankowski waved off in the first overtime due to an offside call on review.
The Hurricanes still had a chance to win it after the overturned goal, only for Ullmark to stop Martinook on the NHL’s first OT postseason penalty-shot attempt since 2020.
“I didn’t feel very good about myself after that penalty shot, and that intermission felt really long,” Martinook said. “That was cool. I’m happy it worked out that way. It didn’t matter who scored, but it was going to be a long night if that penalty shot came back to bite me.”
The Eastern Conference’s top seed managed to protect home-ice advantage — barely — as the series moves to Canada’s capital for Game 3 on Thursday.
“That’s the toughest thing: You have it won, a hard-fought game, and then to have it turned over,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “You’ve got to give the guys tons of credit, because our game didn’t change. We actually got better, I think, in the second overtime.”
Logan Stankoven and Sebastian Aho also scored for Carolina, while Frederik Andersen shook off giving up two second-period goals to finish with 37 saves and multiple key stops late.
Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens scored for Ottawa, while Ullmark finished with 43 saves and was terrific all night. He had multiple big stops in the second period, one when he extended his glove to knock down a hammered one-timer from Taylor Hall as the puck shifted cross-ice to his left side. Another came in the final seconds of regulation when he got his left shoulder on Staal’s shot from the top of the crease.
“A hell of an effort,” Senators coach Travis Green said. “Playoffs are hard sometimes. Some of the games you lose, they sting. This one’s going to sting.”
The Hurricanes appeared to have pushed through late in the first OT, with Jankowski skating in to pounce on a loose rebound and beat Ullmark on the left side with 2:42 left to send the home crowd into a frenzy. But officials reviewed the sequence and determined that Staal didn’t have possession and control of the puck as he entered the zone, coming as Martinook skated through the middle across the blue line for a 1-on-1 chance on Ullmark.
That sequence ultimately led to a hooking penalty on Warren Foegele, with Carolina scrambling an extra attacker and getting Jankowski’s offside-overturned score and then Martinook’s penalty shot.
“Hockey’s crazy, sports are crazy,” Martinook said. “Being able to score after that, I’ll tell my grandkids about that one, that’s for sure.”
The Senators played without defenseman Artem Zub, who left Game 1 with an undisclosed injury. He had been considered a game-time decision.