The Carolina Canes made an astonishing comeback during game 7 of their series against the New Jersey Devils. The series had been a close one, and the Canes needed to repeat their resounding game 6 victory to move on to the second round. With 80 seconds left on the clock, they did it; two goals later, the score leapt from 3-2, Devils, to 4-3, Canes. 

Carolina changed its top line late in the series, placing Ray Whitney, Eric Staal, and Chad LaRose together on the ice. The combination brought three out of the four Carolina goals in game 6, and two of the four Carolina goals in game 7. 

By the third period, however, the Devils were ahead 3-2. Both teams scored in the first period; in fact, both teams scored within the first three minutes. Just a minute after the face off, the Canes scored; Tuomo Ruutu fired off a shot from the right circle, assisted by Matt Cullen and Dennis Seidenberg.

A minute and a half later, the Devils tied the score, when Zach Parise passed the puck to New Jersey Captain Jamie Langenbrunner for a goal. Then the Devils moved ahead. Jay Pandolfo scored another goal in the first, with an excellent set up by linemates Brendan Shanahan and John Madden that allowed Pandolfo to shoot past Carolina goaltender Cam Ward. 

The Canes managed to comeback briefly in the second, with Ray Whitney assisted by Eric Staal and Chad LaRose, but minutes later the Devils scored yet again on a power play. Brian Rolston’s power play goal combined with goaltender Matt Brodeur’s saves against Carolina’s power play seemed cement the Devils’ 3-2 win for the game.

But the Devils did not reckon on Jussi Jokenen and Staal. With 1:20 left in the game, Jokenen slammed home a shot from low in the right circle, sliding the puck between Brodeur’s legs. The shot tied the game. But the Canes weren’t done. 

The teams seemed to face their third overtime in the series, until Staal, picking up speed along the right wing, fired the puck past Brodeur’s defense for the winning goal of the game. Staal scored with only 32 seconds left in the game, the latest game 7 goal in NHL history.

The two goals occurred within 48 seconds of each other. 

The response: stunned silence. 

The Devils were left trying to grasp their loss as the Canes celebrated. 

“This one will definitely stick with me for a while, only because we had plenty of opportunities to put the game away and get a two-goal lead,” said Devils player John Madden. “To have, in the matter of a minute and half, things turn; it’s unreal. Crazy.”

On the other side, Staal commiserated. “I think a lot of them were in shock, as they should be,” Staal said. “I would be if it was the other way around. It was a great series. It was a battle all the way through. We fought hard, they fought hard, a couple of overtime games, a lot of one-goal games. It was a fight to the finish. Two great goalies. It was one of the best series I’ve ever been a part of.”

This is one game 7 neither team will forget.