Canes Eye 'Another Level' In Eastern Conference Final

RALEIGH, N.C. - Nitpicking a historic eight-game winning streak to start a run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs sounds silly.

Yet the theme from the Carolina Hurricanes' locker room is that they haven't played their best hockey. Far from it.

Assuredly, there have been highlights. It would be tough to expect any more from the line of Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven, and Jackson Blake, who have combined for 31 points.

What else could you want from Frederik Andersen? His .950 save percentage and 1.12 goals against average both lead the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and he became just the fourth netminder in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to allow two goals or fewer in each of his first eight starts of a postseason.

The penalty kill is a brilliant 38-for-40 through two series.

There's plenty of praise to go around, but there's also a strong desire for more. The opposition gets better, and the same effort from the last battle won't be enough in the next.

“I honestly think we have another level to get to," Stankoven said following Game 4 in Philadelphia. "We are playing well, and it’s great to get the sweeps, but I think we have another level to get to. I’m sure if you’d ask any of the guys, they’d agree with me.”

As the Stankoven line produces at a ridiculous pace, there's more to get from the team's top dogs. The line of Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho, and Seth Jarvis has combined for just nine points through eight games. Four of those came on Aho's pair of empty-net goals in Game 4 to close out Ottawa.

To know that trio is to know that their current output isn't good enough for them.

"Obviously, it's on us to figure it out and to find the game," Aho said during Round 2. "I have a lot of confidence in our line. Away from the puck, we're playing hard... That can't change. We need to keep doing what we do, but then be a little smarter with the puck.."

Temporarily separated during the second game of the series against the Flyers, the three were back together again for Game 3. Albeit on the power play, the trio's unit connected for a pair of goals in the contest.

On top of that, there are plenty of other reasons to believe the line can get back to doing what made it successful for most of the team's 82-game regular season. Among them is the fact that the three were first, second, and third on the team in goal-scoring, with Jarvis' 32 leading the way. Svechnikov (31) pushed past the 30-goal mark for the second time in his career, and Aho became the first player in franchise history with eight career 25-goal seasons.

However, their shortcomings in production should not cast a shadow on the other half of their game. On Tuesday, head coach Rod Brind'Amour complimented those three for "playing the best defensive hockey they've ever played" in the first two rounds.

"I always say, they’re playing against the other team’s best guys. They’ve sawed that off. If they’ve scored 15 and given up 15, that’s the same thing. They’ve done a good job," the head coach reasoned. "We do need them to get on the scoresheet. (Aho) knows that. But I’m happy with the way they’ve gone about their business.”

Speaking of the defensive side of things, in both Games 2 and 4 against the Flyers, the team called their starts "slow," surrendering the game-opening goal. Although Andersen held firm, they also gave up the better of the chances early on in Game 3, too.

Some of those chances came following strong work from Philadelphia, but others were aided by unforced errors.

"We’re giving up a little too much," Jaccob Slavin offered. "A couple of breakaways, a couple of two-on-ones that we don’t need to be giving up, right? As we progress here, we have to make sure we are playing both sides of the puck extremely well and making the right decisions through the neutral zone."

"Giving up too much" is relative, as the team's average of 25.1 shots allowed per game ranks as the fewest among all teams remaining in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. On par with their regular season performance(s), where they've allowed the fewest shots in every campaign since the start of the 2021-22 journey, they'll try to tighten up even further in Round 3.

"You don't need to reinvent the wheel. We've obviously got to get better at everything we're doing, so we're going to focus on that. I don't think you want to deviate too much from what you're doing," Brind'Amour answered when asked about making changes versus sticking with what's worked. "We always say 'sharpening the knife.' We've got to keep razor sharp on what we do well."

On special teams, the penalty kill has done its job, and then some. 95.0% on their tries through two rounds is exceptional.

The thing with that is, the team doesn't want to be shorthanded 40 times in eight games. Only the Canadiens and Flyers (both 41) have been down a man more times, and each has obviously played more games than the Canes to this point.

Discipline is crucial going forward.

"It is all the time. When the stakes get higher, everything gets more magnified. That's an area that definitely gets magnified," Brind'Amour said of the subject.

"Obviously, we've been taking some penalties lately. Our PK has done an unbelievable job, but we're probably better off not taking so many penalties and playing five-on-five," Aho added.

As for the other half of things, five power play goals on 37 tries (13.5%) is certainly a step back from the regular season, where the team finished fourth out of 32 (24.9%). That hasn't hurt them yet, but they don't want it to either.

It's another area where the combination of Aho, Jarvis, Svechnikov, and Shayne Gostisbehere can help.

"They get the most ice time on those. They’ve got to connect," Brind'Amour pointed to. "They’ve been better. They had a lot of good looks last game. They just have to execute and put it in the back of the net."