Anatomy of a comeback: How the Canes rallied from 4-0 deficit to top the Blue Jackets
The Carolina Hurricanes fell behind the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 in the second period Saturday before scoring seven unanswered goals for a 7-4 road win.
It was the second time in franchise history that they recovered from a four-goal deficit to win in regulation. The first: Jan. 19, 1989. Then the Hartford Whalers, they rallied to beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-4.
The Canes were the seventh NHL team since December 1995 to do it and only the third since October 2005.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour: “The difference in a lot of the other comebacks that makes this a little different is that maybe they were tighter games. This game was so wide open, it felt like. So we were down two, down three, down four and it still felt like if we got into the game we might actually have a chance. Which we did.”
Canes comeback
The start of the game looked bleak for the Canes.
Zach Werenski flipped in a slick backhander. Gustav Nyquist scored on a shorthanded breakaway. Rookie goalie Daniil Tarasov was stopping everything in net. The Blue Jackets’ Nationwide Arena was rumbling, and into the second period Columbus was running away.
But just when it appeared the Canes might have a long day and a losing start to 2022, it all turned around. The Canes continued to attack and kept pushing, scoring seven unanswered goals for a 7-4 victory that left the Blue Jackets feeling they had been hit by a cannon blast.
Here’s what happened after the Canes fell behind by four:
Second period
Canes trail, 4-1: Steven Lorentz, redirection of Tony DeAngelo slap pass, at 9:11 of period.
Canes trail, 4-2: Brady Skjei, shot from left circle off Andrei Svechnikov pass, 14:05.
*Big save: Frederik Andersen, coming off COVID protocol, played his first game since Dec. 18 in relief of starter Antti Raanta. Andersen made a sprawling stop on Boone Jenner with a four seconds left in the second period — smothering the puck after it hit the post
Third period
Canes trail, 4-3: Brady Skjei, shot from left circle off Brett Pesce pass, at 6:53 of period.
Game ties, 4-4: Nino Niederreiter, shot from slot after puck bounces off stanchion, 10:34.
Canes lead, 5-4: Ethan Bear, shot from right point with Jordan Staal screening goalie, 10:50.
Canes lead, 6-4: Steven Lorentz, off rebound of Seth Jarvis backhanded shot, 11:59.
Canes lead, 7-4: Andrei Svechnikov, empty-net goal off Vincent Trocheck pass, 17:30.
This story was originally published January 2, 2022 at 10:22 AM with the headline "Anatomy of a comeback: How the Canes rallied from 4-0 deficit to top the Blue Jackets."
