Jordan Staal has moved to the front of the Conn Smythe race by doing the one thing no one expected from a 37-year-old third-liner: carrying a Stanley Cup Final offense. The Carolina Hurricanes captain tied the NHL record for the longest goal streak in a Stanley Cup Final at five games and did it while leading the series in the kinds of chances that usually decide who gets the playoff MVP.
That is why his name is being searched now. Through five games, Staal led the Final with five high-danger goals, 13 high-danger shots on goal, 18 scoring chances and 17 shots overall, while also ranking second with two power-play goals and tying for third with three power-play points. He scored two goals in Game 4 at Vegas, becoming the third-oldest player ever to record a multigoal game in the Stanley Cup Final at 37 years, 272 days.
The numbers matter because they are not soft production. Of his 18 scoring chances, four became goals, nine forced Carter Hart to make saves, four were blocked and one was missed. Seven of Staal's eight postseason goals were high-danger goals, and five of his six goals in the Cup Final came from the same area of the ice. That is the edge Carolina has ridden in a series it led 3-2 before Game 6.
What makes the run harder to dismiss is the comparison to his own past. Staal had not had a five-game goal streak since 2007, and for much of his 14 seasons with Carolina he was a versatile third-liner rather than the player driving a trophy conversation. He had four power-play goals and no power-play assists in 75 regular-season games, with just five power-play points over the previous four regular seasons. In the Final, Carolina was 6-for-16 on the power play and Vegas was 2-for-15, and Staal’s jump in man-advantage production has been part of that swing.
That is the friction in the story. A player built for heavy minutes and matchup work is now leading the field for playoff MVP, while the one question left is whether he can keep this pace when Carolina needs one more win. Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Hurricanes and Golden Knights was set for Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, and the race for the Conn Smythe may ride with it.
