Hurricanes’ Awakening Power Play Boosts Stanley Cup Chances

In 104:31 of power-play time this postseason, Carolina has just nine goals. They’re not giving up anything shorthanded, but they’re not making the impact on the scoreboard that the Hurricanes will want. Everything will change if the Hurricanes can start making the Golden Knights pay when they take penalties. It means Vegas has to be more careful at 5-on-5, which opens up a little more space for the Hurricanes to get to work.

Analytical Power-Play Struggles

According to Natural Stat Trick, Carolina has a 7.22 expected goals for per 60 minutes (xGF/60) on the power play. The only two teams with a lower expected goals for rate in this postseason are the Philadelphia Flyers and the Ottawa Senators. Those two teams had to face the Hurricanes’ otherworldly penalty kill; there’s no excuse for the Hurricanes’ power play to be that ineffective. It’s not even a situation where they’re generating chances and failing to convert; they’re not looking dangerous.

Earlier in the season, the Hurricanes’ power play was dismal, and they corrected it by simply putting Jordan Staal on the ice to win the opening faceoff. Carolina’s power play can be dangerous when it gets set up, and Staal is still 6-foot-4 and wide enough to have a goaltender see nothing but the “11” on his back. It made logical sense, and it worked. It cooled off entering the playoffs, but it’s quietly beginning to heat up.

Getting Hot at the Right Time

Carolina has four power-play goals in its last four games. It got started in Game 4 against the Montreal Canadiens. It tallied again in Game 5 to seal the trip to the Stanley Cup Final, but now it’s grabbed two in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, and it could be a massive turning point for the Hurricanes if they can keep going. Carolina cannot win without a power play, given the struggles of their top-end guys at 5-on-5. They’re relying on their depth, but the power play could very much change everything.

The knock-on effect is that if it is the top power-play unit that heats up with Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho, and Andrei Svechnikov, who have all received criticism for underperforming expectations, the Hurricanes may very well end up messing around and winning the Stanley Cup. The power play can be the difference. No one cares if the goals come at 5-on-5, shorthanded, or on the power play at this time of the year. If those three get going, even just with the extra guy, it could be the difference between winning and losing.

As the series shifts to Las Vegas, the Hurricanes will have to continue converting. It’s a hostile environment in Sin City, but the Hurricanes have been in some hostile buildings already during this run to the Stanley Cup Final. If the Hurricanes are going to retake home-ice advantage, either by earning a split in Las Vegas or doing what they have done all postseason and remaining perfect on the road, they’ll need the power play to make the difference. Can the power play be the difference maker? Well, we get to find out tonight.