Jesper Fast could only shake his head in disbelief after missing an early open-net putaway, a play that took on growing weight as the Carolina Hurricanes found themselves in overtime.
“Yeah, it was hard to get over that one,” Fast said.
He certainly made amends, pushing the Hurricanes through to the Eastern Conference Finals and eliminating the New Jersey Devils.
Photo: AP
Fast on Thursday deflected in a shot by Jesperi Kotkaniemi on a power play at 7 minutes, 9 seconds of overtime, lifting the Hurricanes to a series-ending 3-2 victory.
Fast’s deflection while shielding Akira Schmid set off a celebration for the Hurricanes, who never led until the final play and twice trailed by a goal before winning the best-of-seven series 4-1.
In the first tight game of the second-round matchup, Fast’s winner came after New Jersey’s Jonas Siegenthaler was sent to the box for a delay-of-game penalty for sending a puck out of play from his own zone. It also came with Fast in his second game back on the power-play unit.
“I know that he was shaking his head in the first period, but to get it in the end is awesome for him,” Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin said.
Slavin and Brent Burns also scored for Carolina, while Frederik Andersen made 27 saves.
Dawson Mercer and Timo Meier scored for New Jersey. Schmid stopped 36 shots.
In Dallas, Roope Hintz had two goals and had an assist, while Joe Pavelski scored his seventh goal of the second-round series as Dallas beat Seattle 5-2 in Game 5 to move within a victory of the Western Conference Finals.
Pavelski also had an assist on Hintz’s second goal, which ricocheted hard out of the net with 8:37 left for a two-goal lead. Radek Faksa added an empty-netter.
Dallas take a 3-2 lead into Game 6 today in Seattle.
Wyatt Johnston scored for Dallas and Jake Oettinger made 29 saves. Adam Larsson and Jared McCann scored for Seattle.
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