What will make the Carolina Hurricanes a tough out in the East Final

The Carolina Hurricanes appeared to be in dire straits.

Late in Game 2 of the first round against the New York Islanders, Teuvo Teravainen suffered a broken left hand on a slash from Jean-Gabriel Pageau. The Hurricanes won the game in overtime to take a 2-0 series lead, but they were down another top forward. Teravainen joined scorers Andrei Svechnikov (knee) and Max Pacioretty (Achilles tendon) on the injured list.

Even at full strength, the Hurricanes struggled to score consistently during the regular season, finishing tied for 30th with a 4.7 true shooting percentage in all situations. Their forwards ranked tied for 26th at 6.3 per cent. A question emerged: Would the injury-depleted Hurricanes have enough firepower to go on a long playoff run?

Carolina answered it with an emphatic “yes” in the second round. Twelve different players combined for 24 goals over five games against the New Jersey Devils. As a result, the Hurricanes are one series win away from their first Stanley Cup Final in 17 years. (In a bit of good news, Teravainen could return during the Eastern Conference Final against the Florida Panthers after undergoing surgery last month.)

“It’s not sexy,” Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook, who recorded 10 points in the second round, told reporters. “It’s just simple hockey.”

Highlight-reel plays are not the Hurricanes’ forte. Their shot-happy defencemen fire pucks toward the net from all angles, and the forwards apply pressure on the forecheck to create high-quality scoring chances off puck-battle wins.

In Round 2, Carolina took 29.7 per cent of its 5-on-5 shot attempts from the slot, fewest among the eight teams that participated, but averaged 6.84 inner-slot shots on net per 60 minutes, third most. The Hurricanes scored nine of their 17 goals at 5-on-5 against the Devils from the inner slot.

Carolina also makes it incredibly difficult for opponents to pass through the neutral zone. The Hurricanes are averaging 13.5 neutral-zone takeaways per 60 at 5-on-5 in the playoffs, third most among all 16 teams. Those turnovers fuel their counterattack.

“That’s been our style all year long,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal told reporters. “Really, first and foremost, give (opponents) nothing and then just be tenacious on the puck and create turnovers and send it to the net. … If you stay with that long enough, turnovers start happening and those little plays that look pretty are really just a result of wearing them down.”

Defensively, the Hurricanes are still elite, and goaltender Frederik Andersen is undefeated since making his playoff debut in Game 6 against the Islanders, sporting an .852 slot save percentage in six appearances. (He had a .797 slot save percentage during the regular season.)

The Panthers, appearing in their first conference final since 1996, are right at home battling in the trenches and, like the Hurricanes, feast on turnovers. The series, which starts Thursday in Carolina, probably won’t be pretty, but it will be plenty entertaining.