MORRISVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Nikolaj Ehlers had made a costly mistake.
The Carolina Hurricanes winger had thrown a puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, leading to a power-play goal for the Vegas Golden Knights.
He knew he had to make up for it.
He did it, too. Not with a goal, but with a shot pass that perfectly hit a cutting captain Jordan Staal in stride for a redirection score that helped the Hurricanes go on to win
4-2.
“As a player,” teammate Seth Jarvis said two days later, “it's incredible to watch what he can do individually with the puck.”
The Hurricanes signed Ehlers last summer as an answer in a multiyear quest to add high-end skill, a “missing piece” acquisition for a playoff-tested lineup chasing a breakthrough moment. He's now had back-to-back three-point games, helping Carolina move within a victory of hoisting the Stanley Cup entering Sunday's Game 6.
“He's an elite player, playmaker — that’s what we knew we were getting,” coach Rod Brind'Amour said after Saturday's practice. “And he's delivered. He's been everything we had hoped he would be, and to our team."
There have been plenty of goal-scoring highlights for Ehlers, who had spent 10 seasons in Winnipeg before signing a six-year deal with Carolina. That included a two-goal game that included the overtime winner in a pressure-packed Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final against Montreal with the Hurricanes facing a possible 0-2 series deficit.
But his passing has proven just as critical. He had three assists in Thursday's 4-2 win in Game 5, which followed his two assists to go with an empty-net clincher in a 5-3 road win in Game 4. That pushed him to five multipoint playoff outings in the past nine games after having just one in the first eight.
Now Ehlers and the Hurricanes have a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series entering Sunday's game in Las Vegas.
“It's going to be really hard,” Ehlers said after Thursday's win. “It's going to be a really tough game, but we're excited for it. We're ready for it. This team has been working all year for moments like this, and especially this moment.”
Ehlers has looked ready all series long.
He pounced for a goal just 25 seconds into Game 1 then added a second in the first period of that 5-4 loss. He has scored or assisted on six of Carolina's past eight goals.
Look at Ehlers' third assist in Game 5 as an example. The guy nicknamed “Fly” for his open-ice speed collected a power-play pass near the slot, spun and sent an on-the-tape pass to Andrei Svechnikov for the easy finish at the right post for a 4-1 lead.
Jarvis has typically played on Carolina's Sebastian Aho-centered top line with Svechnikov in these playoffs.
But Brind'Amour recently juggled his lines to put Jarvis alongside Ehlers and captain Jordan Staal looking for a boost from his top producers.
That worked during Round 2 against Philadelphia. Jarvis scored his first of the postseason on a third-period feed from Ehlers, coming on their first shift of Game 2 together.
“You know he’s looking for you,” Jarvis said. “You know he is looking to make plays, so it’s just about managing myself and where I am on the ice and positioning myself with a chance to be on the receiving end of it and score or make another play.”
That helps offset any potential mistakes he'll make, too.
Carolina improbably committed three “DOGPOG” penalties for throwing the puck over the glass in Game 5. Ehlers committed two, prompting Ehlers to call it “probably my worst game in the whole playoffs." He also joked he was nervous about the criticism he'd get from his father — Heinz, a professional hockey coach in Europe — for the penalties when they caught up afterward.
“To do that twice in a game is not something that I’m very proud of,” Ehlers said. "But you’ve got to try and stick with it and try to make up for it, not try to do too much — which I also did tonight.
“I’ve got a little better than I had tonight.”
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