Mired in a scoring slump, Rod Brind’Amour promoted Jordan Martinook to the top trio, injecting the gritty energy that has seemingly turned their fates.
All postseason, the hockey world has been wondering where Carolina's top line players were?
The trio of Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis combined for 90 goals in the regular season, yet through three rounds of the playoffs, they had scored just five goals past an actual netminder.
As a line, they just couldn't find ay rhythm, actually having a sub-50 expected goals for percentage as well.
So following yet another quiet game and a half to open the Cup Final, and with the Hurricanes in danger of falling into a 2-0 series hole, Rod Brind'Amour made an adjustment.
It wasn't a big one. In fact, it was only a swap of two players: Seth Jarvis and Jordan Martinook.
It wasn't the first time the Brind'Amour had made the move this postseason either, as he had done the exact swap once before in Game 2 of the Canes' second round series against the Philadelphia Flyers, something he credited assistant coach Jeff Daniels for.
And in that game, it paid immediate dividends as Jarvis scored the late equalizer on a feed from Nikolaj Ehlers leading to an eventual overtime win.
"[Daniels] was just like, 'It's time.' And then literally the first shift, we tie it," Brind'Amour had said. "So I have to give him all the credit there for tapping me and saying it had been long enough. Paid dividends. Doesn't always work, but it did tonight."
However, much like that, the move has seemingly been one of brilliance again, as both adjusted lines have started to really roll.
Alongside Jarvis and Ehlers, Jordan Staal has become an unstoppable force, having scored in every game of the Final so far, while the line as a whole continues to shut down some of Vegas' top players.
And with the addition of Jordan Martinook onto their line, Aho and Svechnikov have looked much like their old selves, which was especially evident in the Game 5 win.
"That line wasn't necessarily generating a ton of offense, so we made a little move there," Brind'Amour said. "I think it's a good combination though. Wherever you stick a guy like Jordan Martinook, that line usually has energy and sometimes that's all you need."
The goal that line scored was as big as any that has been scored this season.
Martinook won a race and subsequent board battle for a loose puck, Aho crashed the net and buried the eventual game-winner.
You usually don't think of Martinook as being the guy that can jumpstart a line, but for whatever reason, he's given that line a new look and one that has worked exceptionally well.
"It's something that I feel Roddy has done before, using me in that position," Martinook said. "I think I got into it with a fan on Twitter one year. They were calling me "First Line Martinook" and making a big joke about it and I was like, 'If your boss promoted you at work, would you be disappointed?' Getting to play with two incredible players is a blessing and something I need to bring my best to try and keep up with them. I think those guys, they want it so bad, as do I, so I think you're trying to do everything you can."
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