The Carolina Hurricanes experienced a significant turnaround in their power play performance following the inclusion of captain Jordan Staal in a key role. As of December 2, the team held a strong position near the top of the Metropolitan Division with a record of 16-7-2, despite facing numerous injuries.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour identified the power play as an area needing improvement, with the unit converting just 13.7% of opportunities at that time—ranking 30th in the NHL. Only the New York Islanders and Los Angeles Kings had lower conversion rates.
A major factor behind the struggles was poor faceoff performance during power plays, where Carolina won only 47.6% of draws, ranking them 28th in the league. Brind’Amour decided to address this by assigning Staal—a veteran center known for his defensive skills—to take more faceoffs on the man advantage.
Staal expressed enthusiasm for his new opportunity: “I had enough guys chirping me, but obviously, you’re excited,” he said. “It’s an opportunity, and in this league and in this life, it’s all about opportunities. You want to make the best of them. I remember the first practice [back on the power play] and being really nervous, for the first time in as long as I’ve played.”
Previously used sparingly on power plays over recent seasons, Staal described his return to this role: “I just wanted to do the right thing and hopefully get the opportunity to show myself in a game. It was some nervousness and some excitement, and you don’t get that too often.”
With Sebastian Aho remaining on the top unit alongside Staal, Carolina gained flexibility at faceoffs; if Staal was removed from a draw by officials, Aho could step in seamlessly.
Staal quickly made an impact by winning at least half of his power-play faceoffs in seven out of his first eight games after taking on this responsibility. This change contributed to a notable improvement: since Staal’s assignment began, Carolina scored 28 power-play goals (28-for-103 attempts), achieving a 27.2% success rate—second highest among NHL teams during that period.
Teammate Seth Jarvis credited Staal’s presence: “He’s been incredible. That’s a big reason, I think, why our power play’s doing as well as it has been,” Jarvis said. “Starting with the puck and letting us run our plays gives us a chance to kind of score right away.”
Brind’Amour added: “When you can snap ’em back, you can run your plays… That’s kind of what we were alluding to earlier in the year when we put him out there… He’s been very effective.”
Beyond faceoffs, Staal’s physical size provided another advantage by screening opposing goaltenders—a task previously handled by smaller players like Jarvis. At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Staal’s ability to obstruct vision led directly to more scoring chances through tip-ins and rebounds.
“You need some traffic. You need the ability to create second chances and bounces… I think there’s much more of a threat when you know you’re shooting first and creating plays after,” Staal explained.
Since December’s changes—including increased net-front presence—Carolina has scored nine tip-in goals on power plays.
Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere noted other improvements: “Good puck movement and getting the puck to the net… Being direct… Those big guys in front, Staalsy [Staal], Svechy [Andrei Svechnikov], have set good screens led directly to goals.” Despite missing games due to injury himself, Gostisbehere contributed five power-play goals—tied for fifth among NHL defensemen this season.
Gostisbehere emphasized attention to detail: “We’re putting it all together… We’re getting some bounces too… For us it’s just bearing down, paying attention to details…”
Staal acknowledged multiple factors behind Carolina’s resurgence but pointed out his timing coincided with improved results: “I’ve sensed that the power play has turned around… Magically I got my foot in the door when it did… Getting in offensive zone is biggest thing… Everything little thing counts [on power play], and I’m just trying to be a little piece of it.”
Carolina Hurricanes players such as Eric Staal and Rod Brind’Amour have been recognized for their achievements through induction into their Hall of Fame (source). The team also reached an important milestone by winning its first Stanley Cup championship in 2006 (source).
The Hurricanes play home games at Lenovo Center Arena in Raleigh—a venue spanning over 700,000 square feet with capacity for up to 20,000 people (source). The arena hosts more than 150 events each year (source) and generates over $200 million annually for Raleigh’s local economy through sports events and community engagement (source).