The Carolina Hurricanes are currently 2-0-1 on their four-game road trip, with their last stop coming on Sunday night (Nov. 23) against the Buffalo Sabres. They’re currently on a five-game point streak, dating back to their 4-3 overtime win over the Vancouver Canucks (Nov. 14). During this stretch of games, captain Jordan Staal has been on a scoring run that’s been huge for the Hurricanes, especially over the last four games. How much of this scoring run has impacted the team over that time?
Not Stalling Out
Since Nov. 15, Staal has been putting up goals in a four-game run that head coach Rod Brind’Amour could appreciate from the captain. He has four goals in four games, two of those coming from the Hurricanes’ 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 22. Staal had two goals on two shots, his first 1.000 shooting percentage game of the season. He has tallied seven goals and nine points over the 21 games the Hurricanes have played in 2025-26.
Staal’s nine points put him 10th on the Hurricanes, while his seven goals have him tied for third alongside Andrei Svechnikov. During the game against the Jets, he scored 16 seconds into the game. That was the third-fastest road goal in team history. He owns that record with 12 seconds, dating back to Oct. 18 against the Los Angeles Kings.
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Following his two-goal performance against the Jets, Brind’Amour stated, “With him, he could score every night. If you watch him, he gets opportunities every night like that. You know how it goes, sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t. But he’s always around it. Tonight, the first one was a great goal. Normally, you see him get more like the other ones, a tip in front, or some sort of goal around the net, but he was obviously our best player tonight.”
While he might not score 20 goals a season, Staal is always around the net and leading by example. The Hurricanes are 14-5-2 (30 points) on the season, three points ahead of the New Jersey Devils, playing 21 games compared to their 20. The Hurricanes are also first in the Eastern Conference and second in the NHL, three points behind the leading Colorado Avalanche.
Staal mentioned after the win over the Jets, when talking about the total team win, “Everyone chipped in in all the aspects. Power play with a massive goal, PK was great, Bussi played good, D-core was solid, and we had goals throughout the lineup. It was a full team effort, and we need everyone if we want to win against teams like that. I thought everyone played really well.”
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It’s been a season of intrigue for the Hurricanes as they’ve been winning consistently while dealing with all of the injuries that have plagued the team. It helps that the captain has been playing so well with the depth scoring, behind the usual stars like Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Andrei Svechnikov, Jackson Blake, etc. Doing this at 37 is impressive for the captain. Staal is currently in the third season of his four-year, $11.60 million deal, paying him $2.9 million annually. He will become an unrestricted free agent at age 38 following the 2026-27 season.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens for the rest of this season as the Hurricanes are looking to win their second Stanley Cup in franchise history. As long as the captain can keep contributing, there is a good sense that the Hurricanes could see another deep playoff run in what hopes to be their eighth consecutive trip to the playoffs.
