- Stankoven’s third-period goal kicked off Carolina’s comeback from 2-0 down in Game 2
- Jankowski on the 5-foot-8 forward: “Not the biggest guy, but he has the biggest heart”
- Read below for video of the goal and Stankoven’s postgame scrum
Logan Stankoven dragged the Hurricanes back into the Stanley Cup Final.
Carolina trailed Vegas 2-0 midway through the third period of Game 2 on Thursday before the 5-foot-8 forward muscled Rasmus Andersson off the puck behind the net and banked a wraparound in off Jeremy Lauzon’s stick. Teammate Mark Jankowski put it best afterward: “We’re trailing 2-0 in the third period, we needed someone to step up and get us going. He had a great individual effort on that. Not the biggest guy, but he has the biggest heart.”
Watch the goal that woke Carolina up:
That goal at 10:20 opened the floodgates. Jankowski tied it just over two minutes later, and Jordan Staal put Carolina in front on the power play at 15:25 after Brett Howden’s record-tying pair had given Vegas its early cushion. The Golden Knights forced overtime, but Seth Jarvis finished the comeback in a 4-3 win that evened the series at one game apiece.
Check out the video of the two goals that tied it, scored 146 seconds apart:
Stankoven explained how the Hurricanes found their way back: “When you’re down and out, you’ve just got to rely on hard work and be able to hunt pucks. I just tried to take it to the net and kind of got lucky it ramped up (Lauzon’s) stick. I saw it go in and I was pretty excited.”
Catch his full postgame scrum:
His 10 goals lead the Hurricanes this postseason, a year and change after he arrived from Dallas in the Mikko Rantanen trade. Carolina handed him an eight-year, $48 million extension on July 1, then asked him to play center for the first time in his career. He answered with career highs of 21 goals and 44 points.
Rod Brind’Amour was asked about what his smallest player keeps giving the team: “You can’t measure that stuff. He keeps doing it night in and night out. A combination of all that stuff. It’s pretty amazing.”
Game 3 goes Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena with the series tied 1-1. Vegas gets home ice back, and Carolina brings a rolling Stankoven into the building.
