Staal Matches Bossy Streak as Canes Force Game 5 at Home

Jordan Staal scored in Game 4. That's nothing new. He scored in Game 3 too. And Game 2. And Game 1. Four straight games to open a Stanley Cup Final.

The first player to do that since Mike Bossy in 1982.

Bossy's Islanders won the Cup that year.

Now Carolina heads home with the series tied. And a captain doing something that shouldn't be possible at his age. NHL.com

Every Game Follows the Same Script

Here's what you've missed if you've been watching casually: this series has a pattern, and it is relentless.

Team goes up early.

Other team claws back. Chaos ensues. No lead holds.

Through four games, every single contest has featured a team erasing a multi-goal deficit.

That's not a trend. It's a theme. Carolina led 3-1 in Game 4. Vegas cut it to 3-2 in the second. Then 3-3 when Brett Howden buried a 2-on-1 rush late in the period. Sportsnet

The final score was 5-3. The first game in the series decided by more than one goal. The previous three games were 5-4, 4-3 in overtime, and 5-4 in double overtime. Close doesn't begin to cover it.

33 combined goals through four games. That ties the 1980 Islanders-Flyers series for the third-most in any Cup Final. That series went seven.

This one might too. NHL.com

Staal Won't Be Denied in Game 4

The game-winner was ugly. That's the point.

Staal sprawled on his stomach in the crease and poked home a rebound at 6:32 of the third period.

Carolina led 4-3 and never gave it back. Nikolaj Ehlers added an empty-netter at 19:05 to finish it.

Ugly goals count the same as pretty ones.

Staal has four across this series and he's doing it as one of the oldest players ever to record a multi-goal game in a Cup Final. That's the company he's keeping now.

He's in his later years as a player. Carolina's last Cup came in 2006 when current head coach Rod Brind'Amour was the captain. Staal was there, waiting a long time for a team good enough to get back here. This might be that team.

But they need two more wins, and neither will be easy.

The Second Period Is Killing Carolina

Why? Because they keep losing the second period. Through four games, Vegas has outscored Carolina significantly in the middle frame. In Game 3 alone, the Golden Knights scored four goals in the second period and took control.

The Hurricanes counterpunch in the third. They've outscored Vegas in the final frame across these four games. They were dominant in the third across Games 2 and 3 combined. That's dominance. But you can't keep digging holes and expecting to climb out every night.

A goalie has allowed four or more goals in each of the first four games of a series. NHL.com That's not all on him — Vegas has given up plenty of chances too. But it's a number that jumps out when you're trying to figure out why this series is so close despite Carolina's third-period advantages.

And here's the thing that should terrify Vegas: Carolina has home-ice advantage now. Games 5 and 7. If they get there.

Are at Lenovo Center in Raleigh.

What to Watch in Game 5

Can Carolina fix the second period before Thursday? That sounds simple, but it's the entire problem. Vegas has figured out that the middle frame is where they can flip momentum. And they've exploited it in every game.

Staal keeps scoring. A young goalie, previously untested at the NHL level, got his first career playoff start in Game 4 and won it. A kid who wasn't on anybody's radar five months ago is now one win away from a Stanley Cup Final victory.

That's the kind of story this series keeps generating.

Bossy's Islanders finished the job in 1982. Staal's Hurricanes can start closing the gap Thursday night in Raleigh. The building will be loud. The stakes won't get lower than this.