It may have taken 139 minutes and 47 seconds, but Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk thankfully ended the sixth-longest game in NHL history by breaking a 2-2 tie with the Carolina Hurricanes in quadruple overtime.
The grueling marathon win gives the eighth-seeded Panthers a 1-0 advantage in the Eastern Conference Finals over the heavily favored Hurricanes heading into Game 2 of the series on Saturday.
Thursday’s opener was by far the longest game in either team’s history, ending more than five hours after the puck dropped in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Florida players thought they had won the game in the first overtime, but Ryan Lomberg’s apparent goal was ruled out due to controversial goalie interference against Colin White of the Panthers.
Replays showed White – while being hit by Carolina’s Jack Drury – made skate-to-skate contact with Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen, then ran into Andersen, who found himself on all fours then that Lomberg’s shot crossed the red line.
Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers celebrates with his teammates after scoring the winning goal
Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is seen at the bottom of a pile of celebrating Florida players
It turned out that the game was far from its epic ending.
There were other opportunities too, like Sebastian Aho’s shot on the post at the start of the fourth overtime, as Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was caught out of position. A few minutes later, during a power play by Carolina, Jesper Fast sniffed in front of the net a possible winner of the game.
Later in the fourth, a deflected shot from Aaron Ekblad ricocheted off the crossbar but failed to find the back of the Hurricanes net.
Fans who endured the marathon playoff game joked about their own fatigue on social media.
A Hurricanes fan shared a photo of seemingly exhausted friends in the crowd, tweeting: ‘Guys have work tomorrow. 10 minutes until quadruple extra time.’
Meanwhile, in Alaska, a YouTuber known as “The Sports Beard” shared a photo of his outdoor setup, which featured a fire pit, table, sprawling lake and bright blue skies.
“Quadruple OT 9:30 PM AKST,” The Sports Beard tweeted.
Fans who endured the marathon playoff game joked about their own fatigue on social media
At least one fan in Alaska got to enjoy Marathon Game 1 under bright blue skies
The first period was nearly scoreless until Carolina’s Seth Jarvis scored a power-play goal with 12 seconds left before the first intermission. The absolute laser from a slap shot was assisted by Sebastian Aho and Brent Burns.
The second period, however, belonged to the Panthers, as Aleksander Barkov’s equalizer was followed by Carter Verhaeghe’s goal 17:43 into the frame.
But the Hurricanes fought back in the third, tying the game on another power play goal – this time from Stefan Noesen.
Much of the credit for Thursday’s victory goes to Bobrovsky and the Panthers’ defense, who prevented an even-strength goal for nearly seven full periods of play.
Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers makes a save against Sebastian Aho in the fourth OT
Florida hadn’t made an Eastern Conference Finals since 1996, before much of its roster was even born. But those Panthers had turned a late push to qualify for the final wildcard spot into an earth-shattering playoff moment by knocking out Boston after the Bruins’ record 65 wins and 135 points, then beating a Toronto team buzzing with their first win. of the series in nearly two decades.
Now the Panthers have handed the Hurricanes – who had the league’s second-best regular season record – their first playoff series deficit.
Carolina is in the Eastern Finals for the second time in five years. Last time out was a pleasant surprise for a young core that had just ended a nine-year playoff drought. They had since achieved the goal of building a consistent winner and Cup contender, although second-round exits in the past two seasons at home have thrown a damper on some of that sustained success.
This time, Carolina beat the New York Islanders in six games, then the New Jersey Devils in five to come back. But on a night when both teams had plenty of chances to end this one in one of the OTs, Carolina ended up losing its ninth straight game in the conference finals dating back to 2009.
