As Hurricanes prepare to honor Eric Staal, brother Jordan’s hat trick lifts Canes past Leafs
The Carolina Hurricanes had such a rough start Thursday against Toronto that Rod Brind’Amour briefly couldn’t watch.
After an early turnover near the Carolina blue line, the Canes coach turned his back at the bench and shook his head. The Maple Leafs had a breakaway and scored for a two-goal lead.
“I didn’t know what I was watching,” Brind’Amour said. “It was beer-league hockey, beer-league plays. And especially to hand it over to those guys ...”
But there was much good for Brind’Amour and Canes fans to see after a rugged first 10 minutes in the game — especially when Jordan Staal was on the ice.
The Canes’ captain had hats flying onto the ice early in the third period, after his third goal of the night. Staal’s fourth career hat trick, which included a shorthanded strike, fueled a 6-3 victory at Lenovo Center.
Staal’s brother, Eric, will have his jersey — No. 12 — retired before Sunday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. But No. 11, Jordan Staal, had himself a game Thursday, notching his first hat trick since April 10, 2022.
“It’s cool,” Staal said after being named the game’s first star. “Obviously getting rewarded with cookies is always a good thing. You guys have seen my game and it hasn’t changed. It’s being hard to play against and finding ways to win games.”
Staal’s line, with Jordan Martinook and Andrei Svechnikov on the wings, was matched up with Auston Matthews’ line from the start Thursday. Matthews and winger Mitch Marner finished minus-6 in plus-minus, and Matthew Knies was minus-5.
Staal had the three goals and Martinook a career-high three assists, and Svechnikov set up Staal for his first goal.
“It was nice to see him rewarded.,” Brind’Amour said of Staal. “He’s a special player who does so many things for us.”
Eric Robinson, rookie Jackson Blake and Seth Jarvis added goals for the Canes, who face the Vancouver Canucks on Friday before the Anaheim game. Blake’s ninth of the season, at 4:58 of the second, was his fifth game-winner of the season.
The Canes (25-15-2) were able to shake off and recover from the bad start Thursday because goalie Pyotr Kochetkov was able to shake it off and recover. Kochetkov was his usual scrambling self in net, making acrobatic saves, losing his stick at times, sprawling, doing whatever he could to keep the puck out of the net in a 30-save game.
“He was phenomenal, really,” Brind’Amour said.
The Leafs (27-14-2), rolling into Raleigh with a five-game win streak, picked up goals from Nick Robertson and then William Nylander in the first 7½ minutes of the first. But after falling behind 2-0, the Canes needed 17 seconds to make it 2-2.
First, Robinson went to the front of the net and knocked in a rebound of a Ty Smith shot. Moments later, Staal scored his first of the game off Svechnikov’s centering pass from behind the net.
Staal’s second goal of the game came during another rapid-fire sequence — both teams scoring — early in the second.
Canes defenseman Brent Burns was called for high-sticking, but Staal teamed up with Martinook for the shorthanded score that had the building rumbling.
The Leafs used five forwards on their power-play unit, putting a lot of firepower on the ice but not a lot of defensive awareness. For Staal, the “shorty” gave the Canes a 3-2 lead.
Briefly. The Leafs continued the power play and scored 36 seconds later, Auston Matthews diving across the crease to knock a rebound past Kochetkov for the 3-3 tie.
Blake gave the Canes the lead, taking a Juha Jaaska pass and beating goalie Joseph Woll with a quick release. For Jaaska, it was his first NHL point.
Staal’s third came early in the third period on a redirection of a Burns shot. That came after some hustling forechecking work by Martinook.
The Leafs emptied the net for a sixth attacker with four minutes left in regulation but Jarvis soon scored for a 6-3 lead.
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 10:15 PM.
