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Warren Foegele

Why Hurricanes have embraced ‘bunch of jerks’ moniker

By Sean LeahyMay 14, 2019, 10:05 AM EDT
2 Comments

“Young men expressing themselves for joy of winning. You don’t do this thing in professional hockey. What are these guys? Jerks or something?”

“I know what I’m talking about. You never do anything like that. They’re still not drawing. They’re a bunch of jerks as far as I’m concerned. Imagine Justin Williams doing stuff like that.”

Don Cherry is known for his colorful suits that he wears every Saturday during Hockey Night in Canada’s “Coach’s Corner” segment. Who knew he’d be the inspiration for one of the best-selling fashion designs in the state of North Carolina?

Taking to his pulpit on February 16, Cherry railed against the Carolina Hurricanes’ post-win celebrations, also known as the “Storm Surge.” The brainchild of team captain Justin Williams, they were quickly embraced by Hurricanes fans and around the hockey world. 

“Listen, things are changing,” Williams told NBC last week. “This isn’t a historic hockey market, it’s relatively fresh. We obviously won a Stanley Cup here, but it’s relatively fresh. This team got here in 1997. It’s not like the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Montreal Canadians or the Boston Bruins, an ‘Original Six’ who had decades and decades of hockey history.”

Following Cherry’s yelling at clouds, the Hurricanes acted fast and teamed up with BreakingT to create the “Bunch of Jerks” t-shirts, which sold well and sold out fast. The team store inside PNC Arena is constantly running out of inventory. (An update to the shirts was made after Cherry doubled-down on his criticism by labeling the fan base as “front running.”)

They weren’t popular just with fans, though.

[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

Curtis McElhinney’s dad ordered a handful and shipped some to his son. Warren Foegele’s friends back home in Markham, Ontario hit him up asking if he could get them a few.

The Hurricanes embracing the “jerks” really blew up the entire “controversy” and emboldened the team and fan base even further.

“I think what I love about it is it could have went a different way when you get criticized for what you’re doing,” said Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “But the guys, they didn’t. They took it and they ran with it in a positive light and the fans took it and ran with it in a positive light.  

“It’s not about everyone else, it’s about our team, it’s about our community, it’s about our fans and we’ve enjoyed this year. That ‘little bunch of jerks,’ whatever you want to call it, has kind of brought us together in a way that’s unified the fans and the players even that much more, which was already a pretty strong bond.”

As the Hurricanes pursued their first playoff berth since 2009, the extracurricular activity excited a fan base that had been patiently waiting for turnaround and helped create a new legion of supporters in the process.

“You know, I think we’ve been kind of irrelevant for a while here in Carolina and that was kind of one way to maybe boost some people in the stands, and obviously get people to think of us of a team that was playing really good hockey throughout the season,” said forward Jordan Staal.

The excitement isn’t contained to solely inside PNC Arena. Dougie Hamilton has noticed he’s been recognized more at dinner or out on the street this season. There’s been a buzz around Raleigh this season as the Hurricanes made their march to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and then knocked out the defending champion Washington Capitals in seven games in Round 1.

From the night Cherry entered “bunch of jerks” into the lexicon to the end of the regular season, the Hurricanes were tied for the third-most points (33) in the NHL with a 16-7-1 record. They could have hit back at the longtime commentator, but instead, as they’ve done all season long, they leaned into the negativity and embraced it.

“I don’t want an apology,” Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon said in February via the News and Observer. “He can say what he wants to say. I should thank him. It was good for us.”

Game 3 of Hurricanes-Bruins is Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN (Watch the live stream here).

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.

Roundtable: Slowing the Hurricanes; players ready to shine

By Sean LeahyMay 9, 2019, 11:15 AM EDT

What is the biggest obstacle the Bruins face in slowing down the buzzsaw that is the Hurricanes?

SEAN: Getting shots through. The Hurricanes did a phenomenal job against the Islanders in limiting their chances, while at the same time making the most of out of their own. The Bruins averaged 36 shots on net against the Blue Jackets and certainly possess the offensive weapons to make Carolina’s defense and goaltenders stay busy. Boston dominated possession against Columbus, but we know how good the Hurricanes are at retaining possession at 5-on-5.

The Bruins will also have to worry about the secondary scoring Carolina has been coming up with. Through two rounds 11 different players have scored for the Hurricanes and when it’s not Sebastian Aho or Teuvo Teravainen stepping up, it’s Jordan Staal or Warren Foegele contributing.

JAMES: With Boston’s core aging, and not shockingly often injured, their biggest limitations are their bodies. Consider the Hurricanes the stack of bodies Jon Snow needed to navigate in a memorable “Game of Thrones” battle, then: even when hurt, Carolina can send waves and waves against the Bruins. Both teams have a lot going for them, but the physical toll may prove challenging for the Bruins.

ADAM: Getting through that Carolina defense. It has been an underrated and overlooked group for a couple of years now, mostly because the goaltending behind it always wasted it and the forwards in front of it weren’t good enough for it to matter. No longer the case this season! The Hurricanes finally have some finishers up front and enough goaltending to not squander their great defensive efforts. This has been one of the best shot-suppression teams in the league for four or five years now and they are keeping it going in the playoffs. They are just a tough group to get through. They can skate, they can more the puck, they are great at taking away passing lanes and shooting lanes, and they just do everything you want to see from a modern-day NHL defense group.

JOEY: I think the biggest challenge for Boston will be literally slowing down the Hurricanes. Carolina is arguably the quickest team the Bruins have faced in the first three rounds of postseason, so it might be a little challenging for them to adapt to their newest opponent. Unlike Toronto and Columbus, the Hurricanes don’t play a gritty style. As Rod Brind’Amour pointed out during their first-round series against Washington, Carolina isn’t interested in going toe-to-toe with their opponents. They’ll be aggressive on the forecheck, but they aren’t going to beat up the opponent physically. Handling that speed won’t be easy for the Bruins. 

SCOTT: The Pressure. No one has more puck possession in these playoffs that the Carolina Hurricanes. And the speed. And the shot suppression. The Bruins have the most 5-on-5 shots in these playoffs while the Hurricanes have limited teams to 225, the least among teams remaining. That comes back to the relentless pace the Rod Brind’Amour demands of his players, and it works. The Bruins need to be able to deal with that. They’re going to be facing the quickest team they’ve seen yet and need to find a way to move the puck quickly to get around the forecheck, one that knocked off the defending Stanley Cup champions and one that made mincemeat out of the New York Islanders.

RYAN: Stepping up in PNC Arena will be the Bruins’ biggest challenge. Carolina held Washington to just three goals over the Hurricanes’ three home games and they earned back-to-back 5-2 wins against the Islanders at home in Round 2. Of course, the Hurricanes will have to win a game in Boston for it to matter, but that’s far from an impossible task if Carolina’s defense and goaltending continues to perform as it has.

Are the Blues this season’s team of destiny considering where they were at the start of January?

SEAN: I think they’re the Western Conference version of the Hurricanes. Both teams took different routes to get the conference finals after spending the first half of the season near the bottom of the NHL. In fact, since January 3, the Blues (65) and Hurricanes (62) were two of the league’s top three point-getters, with the Tampa Bay Lightning sandwiched between them. They’re both great stories in their own way: The Blues turning things around after firing their head coach in November and Jordan Binnington playing incredible after making his debut in January, and then the Hurricanes with their “Storm Surges,” feud with Don Cherry, and phenomenal team that’s put them in yet another conference final. It would make for a superb Cup Final matchup if they can win four more games.

JAMES: I’d look at the Blues more as a sleeping giant awoken. We’ve seen teams fail to convert on possession dominance early in seasons, only to erupt when things start to come together. The Kings won two Stanley Cups and zero division titles that way. The Penguins seem to make a habit of it. Honestly, it was perplexing that St. Louis wasn’t putting it together earlier this season … until they did. And then some.

(Honestly, the Islanders were the team of destiny, in my opinion. The destination just happened to be Round 2.)

ADAM: They sure seem like it. Watching them play and watching the way they play gives off the same sort of vibe I got from watching the 2011-12 Los Angeles Kings and the 2015-16 Pittsburgh Penguins. Definitely not as dangerous offensively as that Penguins team, but just in the sense that they control the puck so well and just look so dominant at times when they have it. They just look like a really solid team from top to bottom, and the way they close out that Round 2 series against the Dallas Stars was impressive. They completely dominated Games 6 and 7, even though the latter needed double overtime. They were clearly the better team in that game from the opening puck drop.

JOEY: I don’t know about all that. Were the Golden Knights the team of destiny last year? It probably seemed that way heading into the Western Conference Final last year, but they eventually lost in the Stanley Cup Final. Don’t get me wrong, the Blues are the story of the season in my mind, but I don’t think they’re the team of destiny. Let’s just appreciate the work Craig Berube has done with this group. He totally revamped the way they play and turned them into a contender over night. 

SCOTT: By default, I suppose. Getting past Winnipeg in the manner they did was impressive, but I wasn’t sold on Dallas and they struggled at times in that series. That said, take nothing away from their ability to get the job done. When push came to shove in Games 6 and 7, the Blues showed a cohesiveness that most teams just don’t have because most teams don’t go through all the ebbs that the Blues did.

That camaraderie will serve them well in the Western Conference Final, but I don’t think it’s enough to skewer the Sharks. The Sharks have their own brew of team connectedness. The Sharks haven’t exactly had the easiest road to get to where they are, here they are. And they’re just more talented, with myriad options when it comes to who can take over a game. The Blues have been a great story, but this round is likely their final chapter.

RYAN: I think the Blues were a good team from the start that just took a while to get going. It certainly helped that Jordan Binnington came in and became a dominant force from January onward. I don’t see them as a team of destiny though. I see them as a team that was perhaps, due to their bad start, underrated, but not to the extent that I would pick them to win the Cup. Of course, they’ve gotten this far so anything is possible.

[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

What under-the-radar player will shine this round?

SEAN: Jaccob Slavin really shouldn’t be considered “under-the-radar” considering his body of work since entering the NHL, but maybe now that the spotlight is greater more eyes will be opened to just how good he is at both ends of the ice. He currently leads the Hurricanes in points with 11 assists, is well into the positives when it comes to possession (55 percent Corsi), and is among the top defensemen this postseason in allowing the fewest shots on goal per 60 minutes when he’s on the ice.

JAMES: When Jake DeBrusk isn’t tormenting Nazem Kadri into a lethal suspension, he’s seemingly hitting a post per game. DeBrusk has been limited to two goals and five points in 13 playoff games, but that’s on just 5 percent shooting (40 shots on goal). He strikes me as due, although to be fair, I also thought the same way about Jamie Benn, who then missed Game 7 overtime-winner by a breath, so DeBrusk might not want my seal of approval.

ADAM: Am going to go with Robert Thomas in St. Louis just because he was starting to take on a bit of a bigger role in Round 2 and was really making an impact. He was great in Game 7 and has four points and is a plus-five in his past five games. To win a Stanley Cup you sometimes need a young player like this to emerge in the playoffs, and he might be the one this year.

JOEY: Kevin Labanc failed to pick up a point in San Jose’s second-round series against Colorado. He’s an important part of the Sharks power play so it wasn’t surprising to that unit struggle against the Avs. I think the points will start coming for Labanc in the Western Conference Final. The Sharks are deep enough that he doesn’t have to be the focal point of their offense, but he should be able to chip in with some valuable secondary scoring against the Blues. 

SCOTT: I picked Oskar Sundqvist last round and that was a dud, so let’s go curse another player. Coming off an injury that’s cost him a lot of time, the return of Micheal Ferland could be a big boost for the Hurricanes. Ferland can make an impact offensively and he’s a massive threat physically, which is something the Hurricanes are going to have to contend with from the Bruisin’ Bruins. Assuming he’s back, and reports suggest he’s on track to start Game 1, Ferland can rattle the Bruins in more than one way.

RYAN: Kevin Labanc certainly isn’t seen as one of the Sharks’ stars and he wasn’t a major factor in Round 2. He had 56 points in the regular season though and is someone who can step up in the Western Conference Final.

MORE:
• Conference Finals schedule, TV info
• Hurricanes/Bruins series preview
• PHT Conference Finals predictions

PHT Power Rankings: Most surprising scorers in 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs

By Adam GretzApr 29, 2019, 1:39 PM EDT
1 Comment

You never know which player is going to emerge in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a difference-maker.

It is not always the superstars.

While you certainly need your best players to shine if you are going to be the team lifting the Stanley Cup, it is not always going to about them when it comes to reaching that point. Sometimes they get shut down as the stars on either side cancel each other out in a best-of-seven series. When that happens it is going to come down to which team’s depth players can make an impact and get hot for a few weeks.

Sometimes you need someone else to emerge as a surprising source of offense.

That is the direction we are headed in this week’s PHT Power Rankings as we look at some of the most surprising scorers in this postseason.

Are some of these runs unsustainable and the result of a short-term spike in shooting percentage? You bet they are! And there is nothing wrong with that, because every team that ends up winning a championship has one or two of these players get hot at the right time. Luck? Clutch? Call it whatever you want, but it is a necessary ingredient to win.

Also just want to point this out at the beginning: The only team to not have a player mentioned in this week’s Power Rankings is the Columbus Blue Jackets. That is not meant to be a slight or an omission, it is just that they do not really have anyone at this point that qualifies as a “surprise” point producer. The players driving their offense right now are the exact players you expect to be driving it: Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene, Seth Jones, Cam Atkinson, Zach Werenski. Their stars are playing like stars. So far, they really have not needed a depth player to shine.

With that said, let’s go on to the rankings!

[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

1. Warren Foegele, Carolina Hurricanes. In his first 71 games during the regular season Foegele scored just seven goals for the Hurricanes. That’s it. Seven. In the 15 games that have followed (six regular season games, nine playoff games) he has scored eight goals, including five in the playoffs to lead the team. He also leads all NHL players this postseason with five even-strength goals. He continued his late-season surge on Sunday when he scored the game-tying goal early in the third period of the Hurricanes’ 2-1 come-from-behind win and was a constant source of offense in their Round 1 upset of the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals. The Hurricanes have been hammered by injuries in these playoffs but just keep finding ways to win, and the emergence of Foegele (even if it is the result of a 33 percent shooting percentage right now) is a big reason why.

2. Charlie Coyle, Boston Bruins. Prior to his trade to Boston at the deadline, Coyle was having a really down year for the Minnesota Wild and things didn’t get much better for him after being sent to the Bruins. In his first 21 games with his new team he managed just two goals and was looking to be a bit of a disappointment as a deadline acquisition. Not anymore. Late season additions like Coyle are usually measured by what they do in the postseason, and through the first two games of Round 2 he is leading the team in goals (five) and is second in total points (seven). Some of those goals have been massive ones, including the overtime winner in Game 1 against the Blue Jackets after tying the game late in regulation, and an early goal in Game 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs that set the tone for them to even that series.

3. Roope Hintz, Dallas Stars. When you play the Stars you know you are going to have to shut down their top trio of Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Alexander Radulov. And as expected, all three have been great so far in the playoffs. What has made the Stars such a dangerous team now is the emergence of a second scoring line that has helped balance their lineup and take some of the pressure off of their top trio. It is there that we find Hintz, a 22-year-old rookie, that has caught fire over the past five games and enters Game 3 of their series against the St. Louis Blues just one point back of Benn for the team lead in scoring with seven points. He and Mats Zuccarello have been tremendous together and were dominant in the Stars’ Game 2 win in St. Louis.

4. Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes. They may not be a lot of household names, but the Hurricanes’ defense is one of the best units in the NHL from top to bottom. They are all young, they are all signed long-term, and they are all really good when it comes to limiting shots and chances against their goalies. Slavin is one of the best all-around players out of that group, but his best asset has probably always been his ability to shut teams down. He is still helping to do that in the playoffs, but has also been a surprising point producer having already recorded 10 assists (tops in the NHL this postseason) in his first nine games. Seven of those assists have come during 5-on-5 play, an area where no other player in the NHL has more than five this postseason.

5. Matt Nieto, Colorado Avalanche. Nieto scored just four goals in 64 regular season games for the Avalanche. He already has three goals (to go with two assists) in seven postseason games. What is even more astonishing is that two of those goals this postseason are shorthanded goals. For his career, he had just four shorthanded goals (total) in 402 regular season games. He also scored a huge goal on Sunday night to help the Avalanche even their series with the San Jose Sharks.

6. Kevin Labanc, San Jose Sharks. A sixth-round pick by the Sharks in 2014, Labanc has shown steady improvement all three years he has been in the NHL and has really made an impact in the playoffs. He had four points as part of their insane Game 7 rally against the Vegas Golden Knights, and then scored an absolute beauty of a goal in Game 1 against the Avalanche to help the Sharks jump out to an early season lead.

7. Jaden Schwartz, St. Louis Blues. Schwartz has been a really good player in St. Louis for a few years now, and you can usually pencil him in for 25 goals and 50 points at the start of every season and he won’t let you down. This season was the exception, mainly due to the fact he was hammered by a 6 percent shooting percentage that was significantly below his career average. That is how he makes the cut as a “surprising” scorer this postseason. Eventually, though, regression to the mean kicks in and some of those bounces he wasn’t getting during the regular season will start going his way. That has happened in the playoffs where he has already scored five goals for the Blues (after scoring just 11 in 69 regular season games). That includes a stretch where he scored four consecutive Blues goals to finish off the Winnipeg Jets in Round 1, scoring a late-game-winning goal in Game 5, and then scoring all three goals in their series-clinching Game 6 win.

8. Jordan Eberle, New York Islanders. The only reason he is eighth is because, well, he has traditionally been a really good top-six winger. He is not some young player that came out of nowhere with a hot streak, or a role player that just happened to go on a goal-scoring run at the right time. But like Schwartz in St. Louis, he did have a bit of a down regular season for the Islanders so that makes his resurgence here in the postseason at least a little bit of a surprise. So far he has at least one point in five of the Islanders’ first six games, and scored at least one goal in each of their four games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, with all of those goals being game-changers.

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

The Playoff Buzzer: McElhinney saves day for Hurricanes; Barrie dominates for Avalanche

By Adam GretzApr 28, 2019, 11:31 PM EDT
  • A surprising star came off the bench to help the Carolina Hurricanes steal another win on the road.
  • Tyson Barrie was the difference for the Colorado Avalanche.
  • The Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen duo do something for the Avalanche that have not been done since Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic.

Carolina Hurricanes 2, New York Islanders 1 (CAR leads series 2-0)

The Carolina Hurricanes entered Sunday’s game without three of their regular forwards (Andrei Svechnikov, Micheal Ferland, and Jordan Martinook), lost a defender on the first shift and had to play the entire game with only five players on their blue line, then lost starting goalie Petr Mrazek halfway through the second period. On top of that they entered the third period, on the road, trailing on the scoreboard. All they did after that was score two goals in 48 seconds and held on for a 2-1 win to take the first two games of the series to head back home with a 2-0 lead in the series. Pretty impressive stuff.

Colorado Avalanche 4, San Jose Sharks 3 (Series tied 1-1)

When you are the underdog starting a best-of-seven series on the road your goal for the first two games is to win one of them to steal home-ice advantage. The Colorado Avalanche accomplished that on Sunday evening with a 4-3 win that was highlighted by a dominant performance by Tyson Barrie and a controversial goal in the second period. Barrie’s goal late in the period gave the Avalanche their first lead and came on a play that appeared as if it should have been whistled for icing. It was not, and the Avalanche capitalized with a goal that turned out to be significant. The Sharks had a controversial call go their way in Round 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 7 of the series, and this time they were on the other side of it. That is how it goes sometimes in sports. Nathan MacKinnon’s empty-net goal in the third period proved to be the game-winner after Brent Burns scored two late third period goals to close the deficit to one goal.

[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

Three Stars

1. Curtis McElhinney, Carolina Hurricanes. Before Sunday the 35-year-old McElhinney had played just 81 minutes of postseason hockey in his NHL career, and none this season. He still ended up being the star of the game for the Hurricanes as he came off the bench, with his team already trailing, to replace Mrazek and stopped all 17 shots he faced to help lift the Hurricanes to a 2-1 win over the Islanders. It was McElhinney’s first ever postseason win and it is one he definitely earned given the difficult circumstances he was thrown into.

2. Tyson Barrie, Colorado Avalanche. He was incredible for the Avalanche on Sunday night by not only scoring a goal and adding two assists, but also by helping to dictate the pace of the game when he was on the ice. He was their best player in Game 2 and the biggest reason they were able to even the series. He has been one of the most productive blue-liners in the NHL for six years now and was at his absolute best on Sunday night. 

3. Warren Foegele, Carolina Hurricanes. One of the most surprising developments in these playoffs has been the offensive emergence of Foegele. There were 10 players on the Hurricanes’ roster that scored more goals than him during the regular season. Through nine playoff playoffs there are zero Hurricanes with more goals than him. His game-tying goal early in the third period on Sunday was already his fifth of the playoffs. He only scored 10 during the regular season.

Highlights Of The Night

All of the offense for the Hurricanes on Sunday came in less than 60 seconds. Here it is.

This sequence in the third period of the Avalanche-Sharks game is a goaltending clinic.

Devon Toews thought he had a goal to give the New York Islanders a 2-0 late in the second period on Sunday, only to have the goal disallowed because of a kicking motion. It did not count, but it is still a play worth watching just because of how important it turned out to be.

Cool play, but the rule on this (Rule 49.2) is very clear: “A goal cannot be scored by an attacking player who kicks a puck that deflects into the net off any player, goalkeeper, or official.”

Still a play worth pointing out just because it does not happen very often.

Factoids

  • McElhinney made some NHL history on Sunday by becoming just the fifth goalie in league history to record his first postseason win at age 35 or older. [NHL PR]
  • During Joe Thornton‘s rookie season his current linemates were five and two years old, respectively. [NHL on NBC]
  • Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen both have six-game point streaks for the Colorado Avalanche. This is the first Avalanche teammates have had simultaneous playoff points streak of six games or more since Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic did it during the 2004 postseason. [NHL PR]

Monday’s Schedule

Game 3: St. Louis Blues at Dallas Stars, 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, (Series tied 1-1) (Live Stream)

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

Experienced McElhinney answers the call for Hurricanes in Game 2

By Sean LeahyApr 28, 2019, 7:47 PM EDT
6 Comments

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Jaccob Slavin just wanted to have a small chat with Curtis McElhinney as the pair left the ice following the end of the second period, but his attempt was denied by a completely locked-in goaltender.

“No idea,” McElhinney said smiling when asked about Slavin’s conversation starter following the Carolina Hurricanes’ 2-1 Game 2 victory over the New York Islanders. “Unless he’s calling for a puck that’s the only thing I’m looking for. Other than that I’m not out there to have conversation.”

McElhinney’s focus was on display as he finished with 17 saves and three thank-yous to deliver to his posts that bailed him out in the third period as the Hurricanes clung to a 2-1 lead.

While the Hurricanes weren’t used to this situation having not had to pull a goalie through their first 90 games, McElhinney’s career as a veteran backup made him fully prepared to come in on a moment’s notice.

“I’ve been doing it for a number of years now,” he said afterward. “It’s a tough position to get into at any point. It took me a little while to learn it, but I feel pretty good at it now.”

McElhinney’s attention had to be sharp before he entered Game 2. Due to the set up at Barclays Center, there is no room on the bench for the visiting backup goalie, who has to sit and watch from the tunnel (much like at Nassau Coliseum). The 35-year-old had been disconnected from his teammates during Game 1 and Game 2 before he was called up, and had to rely on intermissions to pick up any intelligence once back in the dressing room.

But when the call went out for his services, that’s when the adrenaline started flowing.

“[T]he heart rate just goes through the roof when you get into the game right away when you’re thrust into it like that tonight,” he said.

McElhinney, who was drafted in 2002, when teammate Andrei Svechnikov was two years old, couldn’t help but laugh when told he made history Sunday afternoon. He’s now the first goaltender in NHL history to make his first three career playoff appearances with three different teams. His postseason debut — which he played with a broken finger — came back in 2009 while with the Calgary Flames against the Chicago Blackhawks. As a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, he entered Game 2 against the Boston Bruins in mop-up duty of a 7-3 loss. “Obviously, that never goes well,” he noted.

The way McElhinney’s career has played out, it’s no surprise that his teammates and head coach are used to his ability to avoid being swallowed up by the moment. After having lost yet another player to injury when Trevor van Riemsdyk was forced from Game 2 early in the first period, the Hurricanes had to watch as Mrazek left the ice. This wasn’t a typical situation where the backup coming in has less in-season experience than the starter. Carolina had a pretty balanced workload for their goaltenders during the regular season, with Mrazek playing 40 games to McElhinney’s 33, and it’s been a near 50-50 split since the beginning of February.

[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

“He’s been huge. Both our goalies have been huge,” said Warren Foegele, who scored Carolina’s first goal 17 seconds into the third period. “It’s not easy coming off the bench there and not having faced a shot for 30 minutes or so and come up big with some stellar saves. Curtis is a battler, and he’s shown that throughout the year that he’s capable of making big saves, and so is Petr. We’ve been real fortunate to have two great goalies and tonight you could see why.”

An October waiver claim, McElhinney, who is the Hurricanes’ 2019 Masterton Trophy nominee, is on his seventh NHL team after making his debut during the 2007-08 season. His 33 games played this season was the most in his career — one that’s seen him mainly serve as a backup. Anyone on the Carolina roster will tell you how big a role he’s played in their success this season, along with Mrazek. That’s why there was no panic when the injury occurred and the vet was summoned. 

McElhinney replaced Mrazek with the Hurricanes trailing 1-0. Two quick goals to open the third period changed the game, and suddenly Carolina went from being offensively focused to trying to withstand the Islanders’ desperate attempts to tie it up.

Coming into the game when he did helped McElhinney because he fed off his teammates’ energy as they pursued their opening goal. That balance continued as he shut out the Islanders, who were attempting to send the series to Raleigh evened up for Game 3 on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN)

“That’s playoff hockey in general,” McElhinney said. “You certainly don’t want to go in there when the guys are kind of shut down and it’s a 5-0 game. Tonight was a fun one to be a part of.”

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.