Jordan Staal worked for his lucky break in overtime

There was no time for Jordan Staal to think. Or aim. Or even see, really, what was happening when he flitted the puck toward the net and won the game 1-0 for the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime.

“I’m not aiming there,” he said with a self-deprecating smile when someone asked whether he shot low intentionally. “I’m shooting it as hard as I can and crossing my fingers.”

Intentional or not, Staal’s shot was perfectly placed, glancing off New York Islanders goalie Robin Lehner’s left skate and back into the net. And just like that, another overtime effort and energy exertion were vindicated, allowing the Hurricanes to collect some much-needed rest riding a high instead of trying to shake off a tough loss, opening the second-round series with their second straight overtime win.

“Honestly, I wasn’t even sure it went in,” Staal said. “I just saw some people celebrating, so I started celebrating, too. I’m not sure exactly how it went in or what.”

Staal was at the base of the right faceoff circle when Nino Niederreiter’s shot went wide and bounced off the boards behind the net. Staal quickly collected and redirected it — but not before New York defenseman Devon Toews swung get his stick in and attempted to bat the shot away. Staal felt the contact, but he got enough on his shot to send it on target and past Lehner.

“We are going to need fortunate bounces against a team and goalie like that,”Staal said. “As long as we are playing in their end and keep putting on shots, we are going to get bounces.”

Given Carolina’s whirlwind of the past 48 hours — from the double-overtime Game 7 win in Washington to on the ice in Brooklyn before anyone had much time to go anything other than sleep and eat — the Hurricanes didn’t have time to practice in the ice and feel out how the Barclays Center boards would bounce.

Once the puck dropped to start this series Friday night, head coach Rod Brind’Amour still saw the effects from the monumental Game 7 effort — “Oh yeah,” he said, eyes wide — but after weathering a couple of early mental mistakes in the first period that led to solid chances for the Islanders, the Hurricanes found a way to match the intensity. And 64 minutes later, Staal found a way to end it, victoriously.

For Staal, these playoffs have brought a relative offensive explosion, with three goals in his last three games and six points total. The work has been there previously, and now the results are, too.

“This playoffs, you’re starting to see what he can do,” Brind’Amour said. “Happy for him. He deserves this. He deserves to get some breaks. He works so hard.”

His teammates echoed that sentiment.

“I can’t say enough good things about him,” Justin Williams said. “He’s just a great guy, a great leader, a bull out there. He wins faceoffs for us, he plays hard and he scored an overtime goal for the first time in his career. So kudos. He’s awesome.”

With one win down, the Hurricanes can both continue to ride the momentum and mojo that got them through the first round and attempt to recover from two consecutive overtime efforts. As the game wore down and regulation ended, Brind’Amour wished for a quick resolution — ”You just didn’t want this to drag on again because that would really have effects later on,” he said — and Staal was in position to deliver that. There won’t likely be many chances against the Islanders, so every lucky bounce or break must not be wasted. Even if there isn’t much time to see, aim, or think.

“It’s been hockey and sleep and eating,” Staal said, “And hockey and sleeping and eating. The playoffs are why you want to play. Everyone here has been loving every minute and want to keep it rolling.”