The Carolina Hurricanes secured their first back-to-back 100-point seasons in franchise history on Tuesday as they scored three in the third period to defeat the New York Rangers 3-2 on the road.
With the victory, the Hurricanes improved their record to 46-15-8 – trailing only the 54-11-5 Boston Bruins for the league's top mark – and 69 games is the fewest needed to reach 100 points in franchise history.
Adding to their historic night, Carolina set another franchise record with their 10th third-period comeback of the season.
Despite the action-packed finish, it was a defensive grind through two periods as an early goal from New York's Tyler Motte was the only score heading into the last.
Jalen Chatfield equalised nine minutes into the third period, but Kaapo Kakko put the Rangers back in front 2-1 just 31 seconds later.
The hectic scoring sequence was not over, as Stefan Noesen made it 2-2 only 18 seconds after the restart, setting up Teuvo Teravainen for the Hurricanes' winner with 2:33 remaining.
Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said he was inspired by the way his team refused to drop their heads after going down.
"I thought it was a great effort, right from the start," he told reporters. "We didn't come off of it. We had a game plan and the guys knew what we needed to do.
"They've got a high-offense team, so we were trying to limit their chances. Everybody – all 20 guys – contributed in this win.
"Even though it wasn't looking good for most of the game, we were down, then we tied it up and they got another right away, I just loved the way we [shook it off], next shift.
"It was great to tie it up and then get the late one. We got what we deserved tonight, for sure."
Offseason acquisition Brent Burns also got in on the history-making fun, adding to his franchise record for points by a defenseman (53) with the game-winning assist, and he pointed to Brind'Amour's system as the catalyst for his terrific year.
"The system has been great," he said. "We play with a deep team and we just roll. It's been a lot of fun.
"I've said it before, but it's a great group, and a special group. It's been a lot of fun to try and come in and find a place."
Chatfield pointed to how previous comebacks have given the Hurricanes "more confidence" when faced with difficult situations, and they trust what they are doing as a unit.
"We know what we've got in this locker room, and we know how we want to play every night," he said.
"To be able to match up against these guys, another great team, [is great]. We lost the first two to them, so to be able to get this one feels nice. We just have to keep going from there."