Mark Jankowski's goal wiped out, Ullmark stops the penalty shot
Mark Jankowski thought he'd won it for the Carolina Hurricanes late in overtime Sunday night, but the goal came off the board on an offside review, and then Linus Ullmark stole it right back on the ensuing penalty shot.
It happened in a matter of minutes, and the PNC Arena crowd went from delirious to dead silent.
Jankowski beat Ullmark with what looked like a go-ahead overtime goal to give Carolina a 2-1 series lead. Then the Sens challenged. Officials reviewed the play, ruled it offside, and waved it off.
That ruling alone had people losing their minds. Paul Bissonnette put it plainly on X: "Such a bullshit call. Canes got hosed." Nearly 40,000 views in under an hour.
But here's where it gets wild. The offside wasn't the end of it.
On the same sequence, the refs had blown a delayed penalty against Ottawa for a hit on Jordan Martinook. Carolina was awarded a penalty shot. The goal was wiped, but the infraction stood.
So instead of celebrating a series win, the Hurricanes had to watch Martinook skate in alone on Ullmark.
Ullmark stops the penalty shot as the series stays alive for Ottawa
Martinook went in, made his move, and Ullmark closed the door. No goal. Game stays tied at 2. Second overtime coming.
The whole thing felt like something out of a playoff fever dream. Goal, no goal, penalty shot, save. All in about five minutes.
Martinook had 3 shorthanded goals during the regular season and 3 points in his last 5 games. He's the kind of player who earns his ice time the hard way. But Ullmark was better on this one, posting a .890 save percentage this season and clearly not rattled in the moment.
Jankowski, meanwhile, has been one of the quiet engines of this Hurricanes team. He scored 3 goals in his last 5 regular-season games, carries a cap hit of just $800,000, and has already put up 3 game-winning goals over the course of the season. He was ready to add a playoff one. Just didn't count.
Carolina still leads the series 1-0 after a 2-0 win in Game 1. Rod Brind'Amour's group has been here before. They don't panic.
But Ottawa is still standing, Ullmark is locked in, and a game that looked like it was over twice is now headed somewhere no one expected.
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Clear replay contradicts refs as Malkin gets costly playoff penalty
Clear replay contradicts refs as Malkin gets costly playoff penalty