RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) \u2014 There\u2019s a moment of frustrated dread for any hockey team that comes with an official raising an arm to call a penalty triggering a power play.<\/p>\n
For the Carolina Hurricanes, that moment quickly flips to next-play belief.<\/p>\n
Their penalty kill has been the NHL\u2019s best going back to the start of Rod Brind\u2019Amour\u2019s coaching tenure seven years ago. Fittingly, that unit has helped push Carolina through two playoff rounds and to the Eastern Conference final for the second time in three seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t obviously want to use it,\u201d forward Seth Jarvis said Sunday. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to be on the penalty kill. But when the opportunity arises, we are fully confident in what we can put out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes have had multiple days to rest and regroup after closing out the Washington Capitals<\/a> as the conference\u2019s top seed in five games Thursday. They\u2019ll face the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, with Game 1 Tuesday night at Carolina.<\/p>\n The Hurricanes have the No. 1 penalty kill over those seven regular seasons under Brind\u2019Amour with a rate of 84.8%. And they\u2019ve been the best of this postseason so far, turning away 28 of 30 power plays \u2014 a 93.3% conversion rate \u2014 while notching a shorthanded goal from veteran forward Jordan Martinook.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an extension of Carolina\u2019s aggressive-forecheck approach that seeks to maintain puck control in the offensive zone, both to pressure opposing defenses and smother chances going the other way. <\/p>\n Ask assistant coach Tim Gleason, who oversees the kill, what it takes to be successful and his immediate answer ignores Xs and Os. It\u2019s mentality, he says, workmanlike and driven by the simple motivation of \u201cwhat I\u2019m going to do for my buddy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you going to do? You\u2019re going to mope on it? You\u2019re going to be sour that you took the penalty? Then you\u2019re living in the past,\u201d said Gleason, a former defenseman who played 1,944 shorthanded minutes during an 11-season NHL career that included at least parts of nine seasons with Carolina. <\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s all about what you\u2019re doing, what\u2019s right in front of you. That kind of goes back to the mentality. You\u2019ve got to get your mind right, right now. … It\u2019s all about here and now. I think the guys do a great job of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Jordan Staal, Carolina\u2019s captain, pointed to that got-your-back focus, too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s part of my job, I take pride in it,\u201d Staal said. \u201cIt\u2019s not that you want to have penalties, but you know they\u2019re going to happen, no matter what. So when I\u2019m in the box, you\u2019re hoping the boys bail you out. And I kind of feel the same thing. Jumping over the boards hoping to bail my brother out and try to get back to square and back to moving in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n Carolina\u2019s postseason started with a 15-for-15 showing in Round 1 against New Jersey<\/a>, while one of Washington\u2019s two power play goals was NHL career goals leader Alex Ovechkin banging in a one-timer on a 5-on-3 advantage in Game 4<\/a>.<\/p>\n Overall, the Devils and Capitals combined for 33 shots on goal on 30 power plays, a meager 1.1 per attempt. <\/p>\n And contributions keep coming.<\/p>\n Frederik Andersen leads all goaltenders with more than one postseason start<\/a> in goals-against average and save percentage. Staal is a mainstay and a two-time finalist for the Selke Trophy for the league\u2019s top defensive forward, alongside Martinook\u2019s grinding presence.<\/p>\n There\u2019s the long-running presence of Jaccob Slavin, with Washington coach Spencer Carbery saying after the last series that Slavin deserves more accolades and \u201cit doesn\u2019t seem right\u201d that the 31-year-old isn\u2019t more heavily in the mix every year for the Norris Trophy presented to the league\u2019s top defenseman.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also 2017Norris winner in Brent Burns. Jarvis and Sebastian Aho as proven strong two-way players with eight shorthanded goals in the regular season. And Carolina has gotten contributions from defensemen Jalen Chatfield, Dmitry Orlov and Sean Walker; as well as forwards Eric Robinson and Mark Jankowski in a sign of its deep rotation.<\/p>\n The trickiest part, Slavin said, is embracing the reality that there\u2019s always going to be someone open with the extra man. That comes as penalty killers spend tense shifts in scrambling rotations in pursuit of a quick-moving puck, with the hope of getting control long enough to clear it to the far end of the ice and kill precious seconds.<\/p>\n But the payoff is worth it once the penalty-box door opens in a return to even strength.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a willingness to go out there and do a job that\u2019s tough, that a lot of times you\u2019re going to have to sacrifice your body,\u201d Slavin said. \u201cI mean, you\u2019re down a man, right? And the odds are kind of stacked against you.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s just fun to go out there and compete, kill it off and get the momentum. Because when you have a big kill, you feel the momentum on your side \u2014 and that can be a huge turning point in a game.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP NHL playoffs: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/stanley-cup<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RALEIGH, N.C. 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