RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Josef Vasicek had a goal and an assist and Arturs Irbe made 28 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes salvaged a 3-3 tie with the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday night in their league-leading 21st overtime contest.
Vasicek opened the scoring with 4:28 left in the first period, then set up Shane Willis' goal that made it 2-2 with just under seven minutes to go in the second.
Carolina has six ties and two losses in the last nine games but continues to extend its Southeast Division lead. The Hurricanes are 13 points ahead of second-place Washington.
Carolina had two chances in overtime to earn its second straight win but was turned away by goaltender Johan Hedberg, who made 37 saves.
Sami Kapanen collected a loose puck near the right boards midway through the extra period and skated in on a partial breakaway.
Hedberg came out and pokechecked the puck, which bounced to the left corner. With Hedberg out of position, Kapanen tried unsuccessfully to bank the puck off traffic in front.
With 40 seconds left, Hedberg denied a one-timer by Jeff O'Neill to preserve the tie.
Randy Robitaille, Jan Hrdina and Andrew Ference scored for Pittsburgh, which is 0-1-1-1 since posting a six-game winning streak.
Defenseman Sean Hill had the other goal for the Hurricanes, who are unbeaten in three meetings (1
2) with the Penguins this season.
