RALEIGH, N.C. _ The Carolina Hurricanes faced another backup goalie Monday at PNC Arena, but this time it was different. Totally different.
In net for the Chicago Blackhawks was Cam Ward, for many years the Hurricanes' franchise goalie and one of the heroes of Carolina's 2006 Stanley Cup run. Ward was warmly welcomed back, given a video tribute in the first period and cheered by Canes fans.
"Wish him the best," Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour said before the game. "I hope he has a great game tonight but we win. That would be the perfect story. You know he's going to give us a good game. It's our job to make it hard on him."
The Hurricanes did, in the end, make it hard on Ward. Sebastian Aho's goal at 1:16 of overtime gave the Canes, with former Blackhawk Scott Darling in net, a 3-2 victory.
Teuvo Teravainen and Micheal Ferland scored power-play goals in the second period for the Canes, earning a 2-2 tie.
Ward was enjoying a mostly stress-free night for the first 34 minutes, until late in the second period. The Blackhawks led 2-0 and the Canes had little jump in the second game of their six-game homestand.
And then it all changed. Quickly.
Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook, trying to clear the puck, flipped it over the glass for a delay-of-game penalty. The puck was dropped for the game's first power play, Aho won it to Teravainen and Teravainen blasted it past Ward from the top of the slot.
Forty seconds later, Chicago's Henri Jokiharju was called for slashing Andrei Svechnikov. Ferland then scored as Svechnikov drove the net past and got the puck to Ferland off Seabrook's skate in front of Ward.
Two power-play goals, 66 seconds. Tie score.
Svechnikov left the game in the third period after being boarded by Seabrook but did return.
The Canes' Justin Williams nearly gave Carolina the lead in the final minute, nearly banging the puck past Ward at the post.
The Blackhawks carried a seven-game losing streak into the game and were determined to give Jeremy Colliton his first victory as head coach after losses to the Canes and Philadelphia Flyers in his first two games. The Canes, in turn, had lost six of seven.
"We're both teams that are dying to get their games going and get results from their efforts," Brind'Amour said.
Colliton reunited Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, loading up his top line. That had an immediate result as Toews gave Chicago a 1-0 lead in the first, getting a piece of a Jokiharju shot off a Kane pass.
The Blackhawks pushed the lead to 2-0 in the second after Canes defenseman Justin Faulk couldn't keep the puck in the offensive zone. David Kampf won the battle for the puck and Alex DeBrincat scored his ninth off a drop pass from Dominik Kahun.
Darling had made some strong stops before the DeBrincat goal, denying Nick Schmaltz on a breakaway.
