Illness sidelines captain Jordan Staal for a third straight game. His absence deeply impacts the Hurricanes' defensive prowess and two-way play.
The Carolina Hurricanes will be without captain Jordan Staal for another game, as the centerman deals with an illness.
This will be the third game in a row the Hurricanes have been without their top shutdown option and you can tell that the team certainly misses his presence.
Staal, 37, still remains a dominant two-way forward, controlling 54% of 5v5 scoring chances while he's on the ice.
He's also the team's top penalty killer and is usually the one given defensive zone starts too as he's a handful in the faceoff dot, winning nearly 58% of his draws (15th best percentage in the league).
Not only that, but Staal is also tied for third on the team in goals with seven, showing that he can still bring a bit of offense too.
That scoring touch would definitely be helpful tonight as the last time the Hurricanes faced the Winnipeg Jets, Staal scored twice in the last meeting to help boost his team to a win.
Without Staal, the matchup game gets swapped around a bit and other guys are having to take on more responsibility than they normally would.
And perhaps it isn't too surprising that the team's two-game losing streak coincides with the captain's absence.
"That line, it just sets our whole team up," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "The way they play, they generally neutralize whoever they're playing against and then that just sets up everyone else to usually have different matchups and a little less stress on D-zone faceoffs. The takeaway is just how valuable that player is to our group."
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