Nikishin Calls Game As Hurricanes Hold On For OT Win In Toronto

The Carolina Hurricanes pulled off their second straight overtime win, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 Friday night at Scotiabank Arena just two days after winning 6-5 over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It was also the second straight game in which a defenseman logged their first career overtime goal, with Sean Walker winning it Wednesday and Alexander Nikishin being the hero on Friday.

“Man, he can shoot the puck,” said Hurricanes defenseman K’Andre Miller. “I would not want to be a goalie trying to stop one of his shots. He can rip the puck and he’s getting better each game, which is fun to watch. Obviously he has a ton of skill and we believe in him to keep growing and keep doing his thing. Lots of good things from him.”

For Nikishin, the game-winner was also his 10th goal of the year, meaning he’s reached double-digit goal marker in his first NHL season.

He’s the first rookie defenseman in franchise history to have score double-digit goals in a single season and there’s still plenty of time for him to continue adding to that record.

It was a slow start overall for the Canes, who just didn’t seem to have much juice out of the gate.

Even despite two early power play chances, the Hurricanes failed to get much going and due to that, the Maple Leafs were actually the team that struck first.

It was a much too easy zone entry for Toronto, as the Carolina defense failed to appropriately gap up at the blueline, but the harmless shot from the outside couldn’t have been put in a worse spot by Brandon Bussi, who popped it right into the slot for an easy goal for Dakota Joshua.

But the team came out with a purpose to start the second period and thanks to another power play opportunity, the Canes found an equalizer.

It was the captain Jordan Staal right in front, deflecting in a Seth Jarvis try, to get his team on the board.

Then Carolina would pull ahead thanks to a great effort from Eric Robinson. The speedy winger sprung himself for a breakaway, but was interfered with by a Maple Leaf. However, the officials granted him a penalty shot and Robinson made no mistake.

The lead would be short lived though as John Tavares would sneak one through Bussi’s five-hole after looping around the back of the Hurricanes’ net.

But Carolina kept pushing and not even a penalty kill was going to slow them down. K’Andre Miller knocked a puck off of the stick of Morgan Rielly and sent himself off to the races where he deked around Toronto netminder Joseph Woll for his first career shorthanded goal.