Stankoven’s revenge, a scorching power play, and a record-setting goalie define Carolina's dominant 60-minute performance against the Stars.
Boy was Tuesday night crazy.
From the Lenovo Center crowd giving it to Mikko Rantanen all night long, to a six-goal outing for the Carolina Hurricanes in a game full of storylines and excitement.
But here are five takeaways from a fun game:
1. Revenge
I'm not sure who felt more satisfied by the end of Tuesday's game: the Lenovo Center crowd or Logan Stankoven.
Stankoven scored for the second game in a row last night, netting the team's third goal of the game and his first ever against his old squad.
And not only did he score against the team that traded him, he danced around the guy who he was traded for to do it.
"It was nice, for sure," Stankoven said. "I think anytime you can pot one against a team that trades you, it's a great feeling. I do have a lot of great friends over there, but once we're on the ice, it's go time. I'm going to compete as hard as I can. That's my mentality."
And not only that, but then the crowd started up a "Logan's Better!" chant as well.
Had to have felt pretty gratifying for the 22 year old.
2. Power Play Stays Hot
Carolina's power play just can't be stopped it seems.
Tuesday night, the man advantage scored another two goals: Shayne Gostisbehere releasing a laser for his fifth of the season and Seth Jarvis netting his 20th on a lucky bounce.
Since December, the Hurricanes have scored 16 power play goals in 18 games and 59 opportunities.
That's a 27.1% success rate, the seventh best in the NHL over that span.
That stretch also coincides with Jordan Staal getting moved onto the power play as well.
The team had been struggling to win faceoffs early in the year, including on the man advantage, so Brind'Amour figured he'd put his best guy out there and it's seemingly worked.
Staal has a 69% faceoff win percentage on the power play, well above Aho's (57%) and Stankoven's (48%) percentages.
Possession is so crucial to a power play's success, so it makes sense that all of this is connected.
3. Brandon Bussi Sets Yet Another NHL Record
One of the biggest stories of the season that nobody outside of Carolina seems to be talking about is Brandon Bussi.
The 27-year-old rookie had another lights out performance on Tuesday, stopping 19 shots, but it felt like at least 12 of those shots were really good chances.
Bussi has been so good on his reads and using his athleticism to make high-danger saves and he helped the Canes be able to keep their foots on the gas.
"Your goalie being your best player helps," Brind'Amour said.
And with the win last night, Bussi also became the fastest goaltender in NHL history to 15 wins, doing it in just 18 appearances.
Vezina?
4. Blueline Scoring
K'Andre Miller's two-goal outing snapped a 33-game scoreless drought for the defenseman and it was also just the second game he's scored in this year.
"I think I've been trying to round out my game here over the last couple of weeks,," Miller said. "I feel like it's starting to come and I'm starting to get a little more comfortable within the systems and with the guys and tendencies and things like that."
However, overall, the Hurricanes have been getting steady production throughout their blueline.
The team is 12th overall in goals by defensemen (Nikishin and Gostisbehere lead the team with five a piece) and they're 6th overall in blueline points with 100. Gostisbehere, again, is at the top with 30 points in 31 games.
Four of the team's defensemen have double-digit points, six have scored and eight have collected points so far this season.
5. Seth Jarvis' Returns
For the first time in eight games, the Canes got their leading scorer back into the lineup and boy what a difference he made.
Jarvis played 18:01 Tuesday night and registered a goal, an assist, six shots on goal, four hits, drew a penalty and was just an absolute force all over the ice.
"He didn't look like he even missed a beat," Brind'Amour said. "Been out for a long time, only had a couple of practices with us, but a special player. When he's out there, you notice him and that's good for us. He does so many things."
But even beyond what he brings on the ice, Jarvis' energy and presence just brings another element to this team that sort of drags everyone into the fight with him.
It's one of those intangibles that is so hard to quantify, but you really notice it when he's not in the lineup.
"We all know how special of a player Jarvy is and what he can bring to a team," Miller said. "Something that you guys maybe don't know or notice all the time is just the energy he brings on the bench. Whether it's in the locker room or just hanging out with the guys. He always a guy that people want to be around and he's kind of the life of the party. It's nice to have him back."
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