RALEIGH, N.C. — Rod Brind'Amour said he could see a lot of the Carolina Hurricanes' style of play in the Vegas Golden Knights.
"They're a puck-pressure team," Brind'Amour said after Tuesday's morning skate. "They do it right. They don't give up free goals and they certainly make it hard on their opponent."
The Canes and Golden Knights then did their best to make it hard on each other. In a game matching two of the best teams in the league, Carolina won, 4-3 in overtime, on Sebastian Aho's goal with 1:11 left in the extra period at PNC Arena.
Aho's goal, his second of the game, came soon after a heated scuffle behind the Canes net following a save by goalie Frederik Andersen. There then was some pushing and shoving between the Canes' Andrei Svechnikov and William Carrier before the ensuing faceoff, but Svechnikov soon chased down the puck and found Aho breaking to the net for the winner.
The Canes (28-9-2) used a pair of rapid-fire goals from Nino Niederreiter and Vincent Trocheck early in the second period to take a 2-0 lead. Aho's power-play goal at 8:32 of the third, on the deflection of a Tony DeAngelo shot, pushed the Canes' lead to 3-1.
But Vegas (25-15-3), coming off a hard-fought 1-0 win in Washington on Monday, kept pushing. Brett Howden's fifth goal of the season pulled the Golden Knights within 3-2 with 6:52 left in regulation, and defenseman Nicolas Hague tied the score with 2:30 remaining.
The Golden Knights, who lead the Pacific Divison, began a four-game road trip by beating the Caps. After Robin Lehner earned the shutout, Laurent Brossoit was the Vegas starter Tuesday against Andersen, who won his 22nd game.
The Canes had the better chances in a scoreless first period, Svehcnikov hitting the post on a Carolina power play. Andersen faced just five shots and the Canes quickly cleared the defensive zone.
The bang-bang goals by the Canes created some separation in the second as Niederreiter and Trocheck scored in span of 57 seconds. The first came from some strong forechecking, the second with quick transition out of the neutral zone.
Jordan Staal, appearing quicker and more active this game, and Jesper Fast put shots on net after hounding the puck in Fast keeping the puck alive in front of Brossoit. Niederreiter, to Brossoit's right, had an opening and scored his 12th of the season at 4:44 of the period.
An alert play by Derek Stepan on a line change led to the second Canes score. The forward made a play on the puck as he went to the bench, getting it to Svechnikov, who skated in and set up Trocheck with a crisp pass for the score at 5:41.
The assist by Svechnikov extended his point streak to five games as the power forward continued his assertive play of late. Staal's assist was his first point in six games as the team captain attempts to get untracked offensively.
Canes forward Martin Necas came within an inch or so of making it 3-0 in the period, his shot finding the metal and leaving the forward doing a double-take when he realized there was no goal.
The Golden Knights took advantage of their own forechecking pressure to score late in the second. After Keegan Kolesar forced defenseman Brendan Smith into a turnover behind the Canes net, Nolan Patrick scored with a backhander for his second of the season at 18:15.
The Canes challenged the Vegas goal, claiming Howden crashed into and interferred with Andersen before the score, but the ruling was a good goal and a resulting penalty on Carolina.
The Canes had an opening early in the third when Staal was high-sticked by defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who was called for a four-minute double minor. But a slashing call against Teravainen 52 seconds into the power play negated two minutes and the Canes could not add to the lead — Brossoit denying Aho one-on-one after an Aho steal in the Vegas zone.
