Right off the bat I’m going to let you know that this is about the Hurricanes. I get to spew about the insane game 7 that happened the other night, win win if I would say so myself.

Come on Nation Network, you must complete the will of the people.

Anyways, yeah, Game 7 in the first round match up between the defending champions and the bunch of jerks.

To the dismay of everyone, it started out eerily similar to the game 7 that occurred the night before *sigh*. Just over 2 minutes in, a defensive breakdown lead to TVR doing some snow angels and Burakovsky easily entering the slot and releasing a nice shot right above Mrazek’s shoulder. 1-0 Caps.

Just 4 minutes after the opening goal, Ovi absolutely walks Dougie Hamilton and Jaccob Slavin to feed notable trash can, Tom Wilson. At this point, only 6 minutes in, the heartbreak began to be felt. You had to think, no way can this happen two nights in a row, no way will the Canes suffer the same fate as the Leafs. 2-0 Caps.

Only other notable item to point out in the first was the dangerous horse-collar by Martinook on Orpik, which seems like a horrible missed call, but oh well.

The 2nd started really evenly, and it wasn’t until about halfway through that the Canes finally got on the board. Aho gets a break shorthanded and makes it count through a quick shot and then burying his own rebound, 2-1 Caps.

Oh yeah, this was Slavin’s EIGHTH assist of the playoffs so far. EIGHTH.

Just a few minutes later, the Caps get a break of their own, a 3 on 1, in which Kuznetsov gets his first of the playoffs. The 2 goal lead is restored, diminishing hope once more, but hey, there’s still 25 regulation minutes to play! 3-1 Caps.

Like they do, the Canes aren’t slowed down by a petty 2 goal deficit, and before the period ends, Pesce is able to keep the puck in the offensive zone right at the line and through a tie-up in front by Aho, Turbo Teravainen puts the Canes back within one! 3-2 Caps.

Just 3 minutes in, Jordan Staal takes advantage of a massive cheat by Holtby on a rush. WE HAVE A TIE GAME. 3-3.

Slavin also assisted this one, bringing his assist total in the series to 9. NINE.

Through the period overall, the Canes are out shot pretty heavily, yet they manage to hold on through a number of plays in the dying minutes, chief among them being this season saving play by McGinn. Some foreshadowing lies here.

I can’t emphasize enough how much the Canes controlled this overtime. They were still playing as fresh as they were throughout the whole game, and the Caps honestly just looked drained. Mrazek still did have to make some big saves when the play made it down to their end, like the one below.

On the play right after, the Canes get what felt like the only odd man rush of the OT, and a 2 on 1 with Wallmark and Aho ends when a pass to Aho bounces and he fails to recover it.

The whistles were put away for this period, and Mrazek was hit not once, but twice, as well as this non-call:

Here is Hagelin “accidentally” bumping into Mrazek.

Tough missed call, but realistically, the Canes also got away with a number of hooks, but nothing this bad.

Things went pretty similar in the second OT. The Canes controlled possession once again, and Mr Game 7 was playing as he usually does in Game 7’s, that being out of this world.

Canes dominated to start, but unlike the Connolly non-call, the refs do not miss one on Maenalanen, and the Canes are down a man in 2OT.

As everyone feared for what was to come, the Canes pulled off a massive penalty kill, and thank goodness for that, as the uproar if the Caps would have scored would have been similar to the “Fire Babcock” trend that is going through the Leafs fanbase.

Finally, 11 minutes in Mr Game 7 delivers, just as he always does. A sharp “shot” from the corner ends up right on McGinn’s tape, which he deflects in. It is impossible to not mention that the man covering McGinn was Tom Wilson, who quite literally was boxed out by someone half his size. Brock McGinn not only saves the game in dying minutes of the 3rd, he also scores the series winner to top it all off, cementing himself as a Canes legend.

To say this was a huge deal was a massive understatement. Exhibit A, the bench:

Exhibit B, Mrazek:

This was Mrazek after the Canes clinched, for anyone that might have forgotten. What an insane year.

 

Canes win in 2OT, missing huge players in their rookie, Andrei Svechnikov and Micheal Ferland. After the hard ride they had this season, from being assumed out of the playoffs in December, to the Storm Surges, and now to this. I can’t speak enough of the amazing crew that works with the players, from the twitter account (I’ll put proof below) to Sara Civian at the Athletic that has made this team not to only follow, but to root for. Even though we won’t get the Conference Finals of Leafs-Canes that we all hoped for (or dreaded, if your like myself), the Canes still endure to face the Islanders in the second round. What an amazing year for this team and their fans, old and new, lets just hope they never slow down, because honestly, the teams left in the East (minus Boston) are not as strong as the Canes. They have a legitimate shot this year, the Bunch of Jerks can do it.

Thanks for reading along with this recap! This was as much of a treat to go over as it was to watch. Remember, @TLNdc on twitter to force them to rebrand for this run!