Five points for the Hurricanes going into Game 4
1. FINISH THE JOB The Hurricanes worked hard to put themselves in this position, with a chance to not only sweep the Islanders but get themselves a much-needed break before a potential conference finals series against a hard-hitting opponent. You never want to give your opponent any life, but that’s especially important for a team as fatigued and injury-riddled as the Hurricanes are. They’re at home, where they have yet to lose this postseason, and need to ride their crowd to a good start. Maybe – and let’s get crazy here – they could even score a power-play goal.
2. OL’ NUMBER 74 Jaccob Slavin lost an assist on one of the Hurricanes’ two empty-net goals thanks to a scoring change Thursday – no longer tied for the NHL scoring lead, he has a paltry 11 through 10 games now, and only six defensemen, all Hall of Famers, have ever had more – but his play in this postseason is finally getting him the attention he deserves as one of the best all-around defensemen in the NHL. He continues to take on a heavy workload while playing with a number of different partners.
3. MAKE SOME HISTORY In the entire history of the franchise, the Hurricanes have never swept a best-of-seven series. The Hartford Whalers swept a best-of-five against Quebec in 1986, but this is only the second time the franchise has ever been up 3-0 in a best-of-seven, and the last time the Hurricanes suffered a 5-1 loss in Game 4 (at New Jersey in 2006, when Cam Ward was pulled for Martin Gerber). Since moving to North Carolina, the Hurricanes are 9-7 with a chance to eliminate the opponent – and were 1-3 in Hartford.
4. STAAL GOOD Jordan Staal was a monster again Wednesday, plus-3 with an assist and 13-for-21 on faceoffs in 18:55 of ice time, the most among Canes forwards. He’s been a two-way force, especially at home, and tied for the team lead among forwards (with Warren Foegele) with eight points. Staal has waited a long time for this opportunity here. He is making the most of it.
5. TAP THE MCKEGGERATOR Despite limited ice time on the fourth line, Greg McKegg is fourth on the team in expected goals in this series, but with nothing to show for it. He scored twice in three games upon his January call-up and had six in 41 regular-season games, so while he’s scoreless in the playoffs it wouldn’t be unprecedented if he scored a big goal. “Hopefully my time is coming here,” McKegg said. “I’ve had a few chances, hoping to start capitalizing on them.”
This story was originally published May 2, 2019 at 3:50 PM.
