Jordan Staal spoke to reporters after the Hurricanes’ morning skate at the Bell Centre on Monday, ahead of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final, with the series tied 1-1.
Staal, 37, the Carolina captain and a 2009 Stanley Cup winner with Pittsburgh, said the trip to Montreal still excites him even at the late stage of his career: "It’s always exciting, no matter what age you’re at," and added, "Obviously at the tail end of your career, you probably appreciate it a little bit more," before insisting, "I don’t think there’s anyone in this room that’s as excited as I am."
The numbers behind Staal’s calm matter. He scored 20 goals in the regular season — his first 20-goal campaign since 2015-16 — and added 16 assists across 75 games. In the playoffs he has one goal and four points through 10 games, and his shutdown work with linemates Nikolaj Ehlers and Jordan Martinook was pivotal in Carolina’s 3-2 overtime win on Saturday night: the trio held Montreal’s top line without a point and to four shots.
Carolina is trying to clear a familiar hurdle. This is the club’s third trip to the NHL semifinals in four seasons, and it has not advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in any of those runs. Montreal, meanwhile, arrived at Games 3 and 4 having lost four of six home playoff games — a troubling stat for the Canadiens but one Staal and coach Rod Brind'Amour refuse to overplay.
"We had the one mistake, and they made us pay," Brind'Amour said, pointing to the fine margins that separated the teams. Staal echoed that fragility: "That can flip at any moment," he said, underscoring how quickly momentum can swing in a tight series that was even after two games in Raleigh.
Staal framed the moments ahead as a matter of focus — one shift at a time. "We’ve talked about how great they are at home. It doesn’t really matter. It’s such a hyper-focus shift, game, moment, faceoff. That’s how you have to approach these things. It’s not like I’m starting the first draw (thinking) they’re not very good at home. That’s not how it works." He highlighted the confidence Carolina carries after Saturday’s victory: "The confidence in our game helps. It’s better being 1-1 than down two. We knew (Saturday) was a big game. I thought we had a great effort. It was just enough. It’s going to be all of that and more as we go forward. It’s an exciting time for this series."
Staal’s path to this moment carries weight. Selected second overall in the 2006 NHL Draft by Pittsburgh, he won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2009 and was traded to Carolina in 2012 for two players and a first-round draft choice. He has settled into a late-career role built on two-way play and penalty killing, and in July 2023 signed a four-year, US$11.6-million contract to stay in Raleigh.
That experience shapes how he talks about opportunity. "I want to win. There’s no question. And it’s not easy to do. I know that. It’s an opportunity that you don’t want to waste. I know that, too. All of that’s in the back of your mind. It’s the journey. It’s being able to grind with these guys. Have fun with it and enjoy the atmosphere of playoff hockey. And all those things you appreciate. You give everything you have to try to win it all. Put it all together. It’s not easy, but we’re doing all we can," he said, a plain statement of intent from a veteran captain who has been through playoff highs and setbacks.
The tension for Carolina is simple: the Hurricanes have come this far repeatedly without reaching the Final, and the margin for error against a Montreal club that can flip momentum quickly is thin. Monday’s Game 3 — a home-ice test for the Canadiens after the teams split in Raleigh — will show whether Staal’s steadying presence and recent offensive uptick are enough to push Carolina past another semifinal roadblock.
