Hurricanes’ OT goal against Ottawa in Game 2 was redemption for Jordan Martinook
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Martinook had a penalty shot late in the first overtime and scored in the second overtime.
- Carolina Hurricanes took a 2-0 lead in the series after Martinook’s second-OT goal.
- Officials disallowed apparent winner, ruling Staal offside when crossing the blue line.
In the Stanley Cup playoffs, players are forever talking about being able to handle the highs and lows that inevitably come with the pressure-filled games.
With that in mind, think about Jordan Martinook of the Carolina Hurricanes.
With the Canes and Ottawa Senators locked up in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series Monday, Martinook had a chance to win it on a penalty shot late in a first overtime at Lenovo Center. Denied and dejected after being stopped, the forward then gave the Canes a 3-2 win with a goal at 13:53 of the second OT.
Taking a pass in the slot from Nikolaj Ehlers, Martinook whipped a shot through traffic that Sens goalie Linus Ullmark, who had made some sensational stops in the game, could not see or handle.
Just like that the Canes had a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, which now goes to Ottawa for the next two games.
“I didn’t feel very good about myself after that penalty shot,” Martinook said after the hard-fought game. “It was going to be a long night if that penalty shot came back to bite me.”
The penalty shot came after an odd sequence that had many shaking their heads. Martinook broke free up the middle of the Sens zone, took a pass up from Jordan Staal and was going in alone on Ullmark when he was hooked from behind by Sens forward Warren Foegele.
Play continued on the delayed penalty and Canes center Mark Jankowski banged the rebound of a Seth Jarvis shot past Ullmark for an apparent winner. The arena rumbled, the Canes surrounded Jankowski to celebrate and fans quickly started heading off into the night.
But the play was challenged and then reviewed as both teams waited anxiously at their benches. The ruling: Staal did not have full possession of the puck as he crossed the blue line and was offside on the play — no goal.
Despite the offside call, under the rules the penalty against Foegele stood. Martinook was awarded the penalty shot with 3:11 left in the overtime.
Ullmark made the stop, play continued, and soon the game was in the second overtime. Martinook got a second chance and delivered the winner, setting off another, final celebration.
“Ever been on a teeter-totter before?” Martinook joked, breaking into a smile. “I was the big guy on the one end. Yeah, I felt pretty bad when I didn’t score that one. Then obviously, when you score …
“I don’t know, hockey’s crazy. Sports are crazy. To be able to score after that, I’ll be able to tell my grandkids about that.”
It was that kind of game, which stretched four hours. The Canes had a 2-0 lead in the second period, getting a power-play goal from Logan Stankoven in the first and then a score from Sebastian Aho in the second — Aho tapping in a Staal pass off the rush one second after the Canes had killed off a penalty.
But the Senators, shut out 2-0 in the series opener Saturday, fought back for a 2-2 tie in the second as Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens scored — Cozens on a soft goal that slipped through Hurricanes keeper Frederik Andersen’s pads.
But Andersen, who faced 39 shots, made some scrambling stops and some high-quality stops, including one against Brady Tkachuk in the first OT and another against Michael Amadio in the second -- the puck hitting the post after Andersen got a piece. And Ullmark, who anticipates well, used his glove to make some terrific saves among his 43 stops.
Ullmark lunged to his left to stop a one-timer by Taylor Hall in the second that would have given the Canes a 3-0 lead. He then fought off a point-blank shot by Staal some 20 seconds before the end of regulation. In the second overtime, he twice denied good scoring chances by Hall.
“It was an emotional rollercoaster for everyone,” Andersen said of the game. “Had the lead, give it up, had the win for a minute or two, lost it and had a new chance at it. And here we are.”
For the Hurricanes, “here” is halfway to an opening-round series win.
“But they’re not going to go easy,” Andersen said of the Senators, the second wild-card team in the Eastern Conference.
The Senators played without defenseman Artem Zub, who was injured in Game 1. Defensemen Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot each played more than 40 minutes.
“It was a helluva effort,” Sens coach Travis Green said. “Playoffs are hard, sometimes. Some of the games you lose, they sting. This one is going to sting, but we’ve got a couple of days to regroup and we get to go play in our building.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Hurricanes’ OT goal against Ottawa in Game 2 was redemption for Jordan Martinook."
