Carolina currently leads the NHL in goal differential per game (+1.54), with the league’s sixth-best offense, No. So far, they look closer to that objective than at any point in recent memory. As we detailed going into opening night of this season, the Hurricanes were a team that badly needed to get over the hump in the playoffs and make the leap to true Cup contention this season. But the Hurricanes were ultimately outclassed in each of those postseasons, being swept by the Boston Bruins in the 2019 East final, losing again to the Bruins (this time by a 4-1 margin) in the 2020 first round and falling short against the Lightning in a five-game second-round battle last spring. Slavin answered from a steep left-corner angle roughly three minutes later, bouncing the puck off the right side of Sorokin’s helmet and inside the far post to ultimately send it to overtime.Among the usual favorites - the talent-stacked Colorado Avalanche, perennial-powerhouse Vegas Golden Knights and two-time-defending-champ Tampa Bay Lightning - there’s a somewhat unexpected name atop our Stanley Cup forecast with nearly one-fifth of the regular season completed: the Carolina Hurricanes, who have won 11 of their 13 contests this year and now have a league-best 12 percent chance to hoist Lord Stanley’s Mug.Ĭarolina has been no stranger to the playoffs in recent seasons, making it each of the past three years under head coach Rod Brind’Amour. Nelson made it 3-2 when he took a pass ahead from Palmieri, got past Martin Necas and beat Raanta from the left side at 9:18 of the third.
Yet the Islanders responded with three straight goals, including Barzal - who missed the last 23 regular-season games with a lower-body injury - converting a bad open-ice turnover from Brady Skjei by turning around Brett Pesce and whipping the puck past Raanta in the final minute of the second. This time, Carolina grabbed an early lead on Stastny’s deflection from the top of the crease then pushed ahead 2-0 on a bouncing own-goal off the stick of the Islanders’ Sebastian Aho, coming off Noesen’s dump-in on a power play that somehow instead slipped by Sorokin. The Hurricanes took the series opener Monday night, scoring twice with the man advantage - their first multi-goal game on the power play since early March - before the teams shared a scoreless 37-minute grind to the horn in Carolina’s 2-1 win.
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