Carolina Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal scored again Thursday night in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, extending his goals streak that has put the 37-year-old center among some of the best players in NHL history.
“It’s a good time to get hot," Staal said. "I want to contribute any way I can. The puck’s been going in for me lately, and it’s good timing and (I try) to still contribute in all the other aspects that I can do.”
A look at Staal's series:
Days between goals in the final from 2009 with Pittsburgh until Staal scored in Game 1, breaking brother Eric's record of 6,198 from ‘06 to ’23.
Goals by Staal in the series, one shy of tying the modern-day record for the most by a player in the final.
Captains to score six or more goals in a final before Staal: Wayne Gretzky for Edmonton in 1985, Frank Foyston for Seattle in 1920 and Newsy Lalonde for Montreal in 1919.
Players in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers franchise history to score a goal in the final at age 37 or older before Staal: 39-year-old Ron Francis in 2002 and 38-year-old Mark Recchi in '06.
Player older than Staal to score in each of the first two games of the final: Larry Robinson with Montreal in 1989.
Players older than Staal to score in each of the first three games of the final. Brad Marchand last year with Florida was the only one to do so after turning 37.
Was the last time a player scored five-plus goals in the first four games of a final before Staal: Mario Lemieux when Pittsburgh went back to back.
Was the last time a player scored in each of the first four games of the final before Staal: Mike Bossy when the New York Islanders won the third of four championships in a row. Only two others did before that: Minnesota's Steve Payne in 1981 and Boston's Johnny Buczyk in 1970.
Was the last time a player scored in five consecutive games in the final before Staal: Yvan Cournoyer in 1973 with Montreal.
Was the last time a player scored in the first five games of the final before Staal: Jean Beliveau in 1956 with Montreal. Canadiens teammate Maurice Richard in 1951 and Cyclone Taylor of the Vancouver Millionaires in 1918 are the only other players to score in Games 1-5.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Carolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal celebrates an empty net goal by left wing Nikolaj Ehlers during the third period in Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — William Karlsson left the ice, and the Vegas Golden Knights' night went south. He may not be back to help them recover.
With Karlsson knocked out of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final because of injury, the Golden Knights took four penalties that turned into two power-play goals against. Carter Hart allowed four goals for a fifth consecutive game in the series, and now his team is on the brink of elimination after losing 4-2 to Carolina on Thursday night.
“When we lose Bill, it kind of screws things up," coach John Tortorella said. “We lost momentum when we went back to back in penalties. It was about the same time that we lost Bill. We’ve got to find a way.”
Karlsson appeared to injure his left arm or shoulder after getting knocked into the boards by Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker a little over eight minutes into the second period. He got medical attention on the bench briefly, skated off and never returned and Tortorella foreshadowed that being the end of Karlsson's series.
“He’s not going to be with us, probably,” Tortorella said. "We’ve got to find a way to fill that void, not with just one guy but as a team.”
Karlsson making his playoff debut at the start of the second round changed everything for Vegas, shifting Mitch Marner to the wing and providing the kind of strong, reliable center depth needed to win this time of year. Karlsson had nine points in 14 games after missing the previous six months because of an undisclosed injury.
But the void left by Karlsson’s departure was all too clear, especially on the penalty kill. Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov scored the first of his two power-play goals less than four minutes after Karlsson left, then added another in the third.
“He’s an important piece to us: up the middle of the ice, a penalty killer, power play guy," Tortorella said. “He’s a winner."
Fourth-liner Nick Dowd called Karlsson one of the team's best players. Defenseman Brayden McNabb, who along with Karlsson and Shea Theodore are the only players who have been around for Vegas’ entire nine-year existence, said Karlsson was a big leader in the locker room.
Karlsson is also nearly impossible to replace.
“He means so much," fellow center Jack Eichel said. "He’s a world class player. He plays in all situations. He’s extremely reliable in our own zone, and he creates a lot of offense. ... It's tough. You lose someone like Karl who’s so valuable to our team and playing so well. But it just means everyone else has to step up.”
Tortorella expects that to happen, promising there will be a Game 7 in Raleigh on Tuesday night.
“We’ll be back here. We’re just going to do it in a different order," Tortorella said. "I’m going to leave my clothes here, that’s for sure. They’ll be in the hotel.”
To do that, they'll have to win Game 6 back home in Las Vegas on Sunday. Hart is expected to be in net again despite a save percentage of .856 in the final.
Asked if he considered going to backup Adin Hill — who backstopped Vegas to the Cup in 2023 — in the third period, Tortorella scoffed and said, "That could be the stupidest question I’ve heard.”
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart (79) snares the shot of Carolina Hurricanes' Jackson Blake (53) during the first period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) scores past Vegas Golden Knights' Carter Hart (79) as Dylan Coghlan (52) defends during the second period of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
William Karlsson (71) moves the puck around Carolina Hurricanes' Sean Walker (26) during the first period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
