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Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal gets real on poor power play in Stanley Cup Final Game 1
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- Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal gets real on poor power play in Stanley Cup Final Game 1
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The Carolina Hurricanes lost Game 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night. Tomas Hertl scored the game-winning goal late in the third period to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 1-0 series lead over Carolina. Jordan Staal and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Canes, but it was not enough.
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One aspect of this loss that warranted further consideration was the power play. The Hurricanes only had the man advantage twice in Game 1, and they failed to score. That in and of itself is no big deal. However, the fact that Carolina failed to register a single shot on goal while having the man advantage was certainly concerning.
"Yeah, it wasn't great," said Staal, the Hurricanes captain, via NHL.com. "It didn't look as dangerous as theirs, and we have to be better. There's no question there's more to be had. There was a couple opportunities, but for the most part, the execution wasn't there."
Unfortunately, power play struggles are nothing new for Carolina this postseason. In fact, their power play has a success rate of just 12.1% over the course of these Stanley Cup Playoffs. In contrast, the Golden Knights have a power play success rate of around 24%, though Vegas also went without a power play goal in Game 1.
This has not slowed the Hurricanes down, though. They swept their way through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And they defeated the Montreal Canadiens in a largely lopsided Eastern Conference Finals in just five games.
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The Hurricanes will need to be better if they wish to tie the Stanley Cup Final in Game 2. That contest will take place at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina on Thursday night.
Related: Hurricanes most to blame after Stanley Cup Final Game 1 loss
Related: How Hurricanes, Golden Knights pulled off historic first in Stanley Cup Final Game 1
