Backhanded complement

When they were playing the New Jersey Devils in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, they dropped the first game of the series on the road, came back and won the second game, and then dropped the third game at home. They played win one, lose one hockey until capturing Game 7 with a pair of goals in the final 1 minute 20 seconds to eliminate the favored sons of Exit 16W.

Last night, in Game 3 against the Bruins at the RBC Center, it took overtime but Jussi Jokinen banged home a rebound shot at 2:48 of the extra session to give Carolina a 3-2 victory and a 2-1 series lead.

Former Bruin Sergei Samsonov potted his first goal of the playoffs with 2:02 remaining in the second period to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead, and Samsonov also set up Jokinen's winner.

In OT, Samsonov sent a backhander from the right circle that glanced off Bruins netminder Tim Thomas. Thomas tried to get a stick on the puck to clear it from in front but missed, and Jokinen jumped on the puck and fired it in to end it.

"Great job by Jussi to get it done for us," said Carolina star center Eric Staal, who scored his team's first goal at 16:49 of the second.

It was a triumph for the 30-year-old Samsonov, who has carved out a niche for himself with Carolina after largely unsuccessful stops in Edmonton, Montreal, and Chicago. Early in his career he was considered an offensive weapon when he twice had 70 or more points for Boston, but he has embraced the team concept Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice has put in place and said it works well, even though he doesn't have as many points to show for it.

"You get your chances and sometimes it's frustrating but the important thing is don't let that get to you," said Samsonov. "It's more important to do certain things the right way than trying to change your game and score a goal. Tonight was the same things we've been doing for the last three weeks. Just sometimes they go in."

As patterns go, the Hurricanes established one during the Devils' series that was all about playing catch-up. This time, they are making the Bruins do that.

"I don't know if it's a confidence boost," said Samsonov. "I thought we've been playing for the last couple of months [with confidence]. We can't rely on just one game and all of a sudden all of us have confidence, but we're in a good situation no doubt. But I think we're going to have to enjoy it tonight and move on. There's another game [tomorrow night] and here we go again."

Samsonov's goal came as a result of a terrific pass by forward Scott Walker. Walker, in the right circle, saw Samsonov skating down through left circle and dished the puck. Samsonov swept it past Thomas.

"I didn't even look up," Samsonov said. "It was a nice pass right in my wheelhouse and I just put it on net."

As much as Samsonov was an important factor, Jokinen stole the show, as he did when he tied the dramatic Game 7 against the Devils at 18:40 of the third.

"He's been great," said Samsonov. "He's scored some unbelievably big goals for us. He shifted the momentum in the New Jersey series. Hopefully, he's going to keep on going. It's been a fun ride, I'm sure, for him and for us."

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.