Martinook rescues Hurricanes in 2OT after overturned goal

Carolina Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook blew his first chance at being the hero of Game 2, failing to convert on a rare penalty shot in the first overtime. But in the second OT session, he wasn’t about to squander a second chance to put away the Ottawa Senators.

Martinook ended Game 2 at 13:53 of the second extra session in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Monday night, giving the Hurricanes a 3-2 victory and a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series. It was redemption for the 33-year-old, who earlier couldn’t convert on just the fifth overtime penalty shot in Stanley Cup playoff history, firing the puck directly into the glove of Ottawa goalie Linus Ullmark with 3:11 left in the first overtime.

“I felt pretty bad when I didn’t score that one. But obviously the emotion when you score … hockey’s crazy,” he said. “Being able to score after that, I’ll tell my grandkids about that one, that’s for sure.”

In the second overtime, Martinook’s line was again buzzing in the Senators’ zone. Defenseman K’Andre Miller fed the puck to forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who found Martinook in the slot. His quick shot beat goalie Ullmark (43 saves), who was screened by Carolina captain Jordan Staal.

“I’d be lying if I said I picked my head up and looked and picked the corner. At that point, you’re just trying to put as many pucks on net you can,” Martinook said. “I got it and just ripped it. Luckily, it went in.”

Martinook’s penalty shot occurred after a surreal sequence in the first overtime in which an apparent winning goal was wiped off the board via video review.

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Senators forward Warren Foegele took a slashing penalty against Martinook, as the Carolina forward slipped in between him and Ullmark for a scoring chance.

On the delayed penalty, Ullmark deflected a shot by Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis that center Mark Jankowski collected and fired into the net with 2:42 remaining in the first overtime for what appeared to be a 3-2 win.

But the on-ice officials soon gathered near the penalty boxes, as NHL Hockey Operations initiated a video review to see if Staal was offside on the zone entry.

“They determined that the player did not have control and possession of the puck prior to his feet breaking the plane at the blue line. You need to have possession and control as you’re entering the zone. They felt he didn’t,” ESPN rules analyst Dave Jackson said. “He had possession — the puck hit his stick — but he never controlled it until the puck was inside the zone. He put himself offside essentially.”

Despite 29 seconds of play between Staal’s zone entry and Jankowski putting the puck in the net, the offside decision nullified the goal. But it did not nullify the penalty on Foegele, as NHL rules state: “If one or more penalties (minor or major) are assessed between the time of the missed infraction and the video review that disallows the apparent goal, the offending team will still be required to serve the penalties identified and assessed.”

Martinook said the emotional swing of the moment was hard to process.

“Try having a penalty shot after all that,” he joked. “You exhale. You think it’s over.”

It was the first overtime penalty shot in the playoffs since August 2020, when Montreal’s Jonathan Drouin took one against Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray. Teams are now 0-for-5 on overtime penalty shots. Martinook became the fifth player in Stanley Cup playoff history with multiple penalty shot attempts, having previously scored on one in 2023.

“The intermission felt really long,” Martinook said. “That was cool though. 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.”

Game 3 of the series is Thursday night in Ottawa.