RALEIGH, N.C. – Thunder Bay’s Jordan Staal continued his stellar playoff play on Tuesday night, netting the overtime winner to put the Carolina Hurricanes on the brink of advancing to the second round.
The Hurricanes captain batted the puck out of the air and past Nashville Predators goalie Juuse Saros to give Carolina a 3-2 and a similar advantage in their best-of-seven first-round series.
It’s the fourth goal in five games for Staal in the post-season, giving him 31 playoff goals for his career. That’s four shy of the 35 scored by Detroit Red Wings hall-of-famer Alex Delvecchio, the most by a player from Fort William, Port Arthur or Thunder Bay.
Thunder Bay’s Eric Staal, a healthy scratch in Game 3, returned to the lineup on Tuesday night for the Montreal Canadiens, but was held off the score sheet, like the rest of his teammates, in a 4-0 shutout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto leads the series 3-1 and can close it out at home on Thursday. Carolina can also advance on Thursday, when they travel to Nashville for Game 6.
The New York Islanders, Tampa Bay and Vegas can all move on with Game 6 wins on Wednesday night.
