Have Seth Jarvis and the Hurricanes’ power play finally found playoff mojo?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Seth Jarvis scored a power-play goal that tied the Stanley Cup Final at 1-1.
- Brind’Amour moved Jarvis with Staal and Ehlers in the third period.
- Frederik Andersen delivered strong goaltending in Game 2, allowing three goals overall.
Aho to Walker.
Walker to Gostisbehere.
Gostisbehere to Jarvis.
Bang.
With one mighty clapper from the top of the left circle, Seth Jarvis shed about 100 pounds from his back, silenced thousands of critics, and gave the Carolina Hurricanes the boost they needed to square up the Stanley Cup Final at a game apiece.
Maybe that was the jolt Jarvis needed. Maybe Game 2 finally solved the power play perplexity that’s bewildered the Hurricanes and their fans alike for the past two months.
Jarvis, who has been for the Hurricanes over three seasons what Logan Stankoven has become in the 2026 NHL playoffs — gritty, tenacious, high-motor — has largely been silent this postseason.
That is, until Thursday, when quiet was the last adjective anyone would pick to describe the scene inside Lenovo Center, which unofficially reached about 115 decibels at its peak.
“It’s incredible,” Jarvis said late Thursday night. “I’ve imagined doing it a lot. To do it in real life is awesome.
“This is exciting. This is what playoff hockey is all about. Tight games, momentum swings, and you never know what’s going to happen next.”
What the Hurricanes hope happens next is another win or two … or three.
To get there, they’ll need everyone on the scoresheet — including Jarvis.
And to be fair, Jarvis isn’t the only one who’s been quieter than they should be.
“Everyone has to play well if you’re going to win at this time of year, it’s as simple as that,” Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said Wednesday between games 1 and 2. “Your best guys have to get on the scoresheet. That’s going to have to happen if we want to get to where we want to be.”
Prescient, much?
But he could have said that same thing after Game 1 against Montreal in the Eastern Conference Final.
Or, maybe, when he was asked about the Canes’ winning despite a lack of production from Jarvis, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, among others, in Rounds 1 and 2.
Time has arrived for Canes’ top line to produce
Before this week, a superhuman effort from Frederik Andersen and timely scoring from players that should have been the Canes’ scoresheet depth have masked those players’ collective disappearing act.
But this is the Stanley Cup Final. There’s no masking anything anymore.
There’s only so many times Brind’Amour can say that — or something like it. There are only so many words to spin what has been obvious to everyone in Lenovo Center for Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, and to every one of the 5.5 million viewers who tuned in to watch the most-watched Game 1 since 2019:
Barring a matching set of undisclosed injuries to Aho, Svechnikov and Jarvis, there has been little to explain their lack of production on the biggest stage this team has been on in 20 years; certainly the biggest NHL stage any of these players have been on.
“I think we can be a little bit smarter with the puck,” Aho said Wednesday. “When you have the chance to shoot, you have to shoot. At the same time, you have to play the game the right way. Obviously, I know we have better in us. We have to show it.”
Thursday was a start. A great start.
The power play flickered. Jarvis came to life.
There, in those moments, they “showed it.”
Canes must exploit Carter Hart weaknesses
In the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final, Vegas goalie Carter Hart has been fine, but he hasn’t played better than Andersen. His defenders and backchecking forwards are playing better than the Canes’ forwards. The Golden Knights have a deeper, more physical back line than the Canadiens, Flyers or Senators. They have more defensively accountable forwards, and when Hart is offering one of his multitude of rebounds, his team has routinely been clearing the pucks out of harm’s way more efficiently.
Svechnikov has size and brute strength. He has the game to lower his shoulder, bully his way to the net and generate offense one-on-one.
Aho is skilled, as adept a playmaker as anyone in the NHL when he’s at his best. His game Thursday might have been his best since the earlier rounds.
Jarvis is usually a pest, moving his legs, diving into the dirty areas, mucking it up in front of the net or digging the puck out of the corners.
They were, for the most part, those players in Game 2 on Thursday. Finally.
Brind’Amour shifted lines around in the third period, swapping Jarvis alongside Jordan Staal and Nikolaj Ehlers while shifting Jordan Martinook alongside Aho and Svechnikov.
“We were in a little funk there and we needed to do something,” Brind’Amour said after the game.
Like so many of Brind’Amour’s in-game tweaks, it worked.
Andersen did his job in Game 2, allowing only three goals — two on a breakaway or partial break after lapses in defensive effort, and one that went off defenseman Jaccob Slavin.
And, finally, Jarvis and company got one. And, just like that, the Hurricanes are back in the series.
Bang.
This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 12:15 PM with the headline "Have Seth Jarvis and the Hurricanes’ power play finally found playoff mojo?."
