Canes learning a playoff truth: unexpected stars can grab the spotlight
Carolina Hurricanes forward Warren Foegele said he had never heard much about Fernando Pisani or his hockey saga but seemed eager to hear the details.
Pisani was a forward with the Edmonton Oilers, Pisani’s hometown team, in the 2005-06 season, scoring 18 goals in 80 games.
“Sounds like pretty good season,” Foegele said Tuesday after a team practice at PNC Arena.
Then came the Stanley Cup playoffs. Good became great. Pisani seemingly scored every time the puck touched his stick around the net. He had 14 goals in 24 playoff games as the Oilers, seeded eighth in the Western Conference, moved to the Stanley Cup final, against the Canes
“How many, 14?” Foegele said. “Wow.”
Had Pisani scored a 15th, the Oilers might have won the Cup and rewritten what became the greatest moment in Hurricanes history. Had he popped in a rebound with less than four minutes left in regulation in Game 7, on a play he made repeatedly during the playoffs, he would have tied the score 2-2 and possibly forced overtime.
Who knows then? Instead, Cam Ward made the save, the Canes won 3-1 and celebrated with the Cup.
But it’s a player like Pisani who can make the Stanley Cup playoffs so mesmerizing, unsung types who step into the spotlight at just the right time and place, becoming a surprise playoff star that suddenly everyone in the NHL is talking about.
Foegele has done that with five goals in his first nine playoff games. Keep up that Pisani-like pace and he could be the guy. He spent a long time Tuesday after the practice churning out personal tidbits for the media about his hockey life from the pee-wee days to the Canes, and there could be more of those to come.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Foegele is “shining” in the playoffs, adding, “Obviously we need it.”
Then there’s the Canes’ Brock McGinn. In the second overtime of Game 7 of the series against the Washington Capitals, it was McGinn who went to the front of the net, got inside position on the Caps’ rugged Tom Wilson and got his stick on a centering pass from Justin Williams.
Suddenly it was McGinn with the winning goal. Moments later he was leaping across the ice while Wilson seemed stunned, like he had witnessed a sudden death.
“At a moment like that I don’t even know if you realize what you’re doing,” McGinn said Tuesday. “I think you’re so excited your body just takes over control.”
On Sunday, with the Canes trailing the New York Islanders in Game 2 of their series, Foegle ripped off a shot from the right circle that beat goalie Robin Lehner to tie the score 1-1 just 17 seconds into the third. Nino Niederreiter’s goal, off a redirection 48 seconds later, was the winner in a 2-1 victory.
But that’s the playoffs. The Canes have had a couple of surprise scoring stars in McGinn and Foegele and may need more as they look to add to their 2-0 lead in the second-round series with the Islanders -- Game 3 is Wednesday at PNC Arena -- and try to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
“It’s playoff hockey,” McGinn said Tuesday. “You’re not going to have too many high-end goals. It’s all just working. It’s battling. That’s something this team does well. We don’t give up on plays. We’re aggressive.”
McGinn’s goal, his second of the playoffs, gave the Canes their first series-clinching victory since Scott Walker’s overtime goal beat the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series in Boston on May 14, 2009.
Walker was a gritty, unsung type like McGinn. Drafted by the Canes in 2012, McGinn played junior hockey for Walker for the Guelph Storm in the Ontario Hockey League, and Walker said McGinn was headed to the NHL to do good things.
Oddly, McGinn said Walker has not called or texted since the Caps game, although he wasn’t miffed about it.
“I remember watching that (game) in Boston and seeing him jump, too, and it’s pretty cool,” said McGinn, who was 15 in 2009.
McGinn said he has seen the replays of his Game 7 goal several times in the past week. His reaction?
“It’s pretty funny, just seeing the relief on everybody’s face,” McGinn said. “Everyone is jumping for joy.”
The Canes would like to continue do that. Get back some injured players -- rookie forward Andrei Svechnikov (concussion) practiced Tuesday and seems good to go; forward Jordan Martinook (lower body) could play -- and keep the run going. Maybe find a few more unexpected stars.
Islanders at Hurricanes
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh
TV: NBCSN
This story was originally published April 30, 2019 at 4:05 PM.
