RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Nikolaj Ehlers wanted to play for a winner. The Carolina Hurricanes wanted another scoring threat with open-ice skill and defense-stretching speed.
The pairing worked perfectly to get the Hurricanes back into their Eastern Conference Final series against the Montreal Canadiens.
Ehlers got loose up the center of the ice and popped the puck past Jakub Dobes at 3:29 of overtime to lift the Hurricanes past the Canadiens 3-2 on Saturday
night, leveling the best-of-seven series at one game apiece. It was part of a two-goal night for Ehlers, who had a highlight-reel effort on his second-period score, and joined a roaring home crowd with his own full-throated scream with arms raised after the OT winner.
“Coming to a new place, it was the first time in my career and it's been great so far, it's been special,” Ehlers said. "The city's been great. The guys, the organization. So to be able to do this at home in front of our crowd was special.
“I felt everything out there. So that's one I'm not going to forget.”
Neither will Hurricanes' fans considering the stakes.
Carolina was facing massive pressure to regroup from Thursday’s 6-2 loss in the series opener, coming after an 11-day rest that stood as the longest between-rounds playoff break in more than a century. Carolina went from sweeping through the first two rounds to magnifying the team’s long-running troubles in scaling the roadblock that is the Eastern Conference Final.
Ehlers was a sought-after free agent last summer after spending 10 years in Winnipeg. He opted to sign with the Hurricanes, a team looking for more high-end finishers to help punch through tough playoff grinds. That was particularly true for this round, where the Hurricanes had gone 1-12 under coach Rod Brind'Amour — being swept out by Boston in 2019 and Florida in 2023, then losing in five games to the Panthers in last year's rematch.
Ehlers met that moment Saturday night, down to his line — centered by captain Jordan Staal and including Jordan Martinook — taking the primary defensive matchup on Montreal's top line of Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield.
Brind'Amour put it simply: "He's a special talent, and it was on full display tonight.”
The winning sequence started with a retreating Jalen Chatfield bouncing the puck back into the neutral zone to Mark Jankowski. Jankowski sent a quick redirection to Ehlers entering the zone at full speed for a clean look at Dobes.
“Easiest assist of my life on that one,” Jankowski said. “Just poke it to him in the neutral zone and let him do the rest.”
Ehlers fired quickly for the sudden winner across Dobes' body to the blocker side, leaving the netminder sitting at the top of the crease with his legs extended out as Ehlers' on-ice celebration began.
“He’s definitely a good player with a lot of speed, so definitely got to be aware of him," Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson said.
While the winner was clearly the biggest moment, Ehlers' second-period score was a beauty.
With the game tied at 1-1 in the second, Ehlers carried the puck into the zone on the right side on a 2-on-2 opportunity with Staal lurking. Ehlers cut toward the slot against a retreating Lane Hutson and his back turned toward Dobes, then weaved the puck around the stick of a reaching-in Caufield.
Ehlers turned to his right and whipped the puck low toward Dobes, with it slipping through the five-hole for the 2-1 lead that sent Ehlers leaping into the glass to celebrate.
Saturday night marked Ehlers' second career OT postseason winner. The other came five years earlier, to the day, to help Winnipeg beat Edmonton and complete a comeback from three goals down in the third period for a 5-4 win and a 3-0 lead in that opening-round series.
"The biggest thing was the shooting mentality,” Ehlers said of taking advantage of playoff chances. “When I have that, then my legs feel a lot better. ... So it's worked out pretty good so far and it's something that I want to keep going.”
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
