The 2025-26 regular season is quickly coming to a close and as we approach the end, something that stands out with this current Carolina Hurricanes squad is how good they've been offensively.
The Canes are averaging 3.48 goals per game, the fourth best rate in the league, and the second best marker in franchise history.
That scoring rate is just 0.01 lower than the team's all-time best rate, which was set the same year that they won the Stanley Cup in 2005-06.
So what's been going right for the Canes this season?
For one, the Hurricanes have one of their deepest teams in years, retaining big parts of their core while adding the likes of Nikolaj Ehlers, K'Andre Miller and Alexander Nikishin to the roster.
Add in the growth of Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven and the resurgent seasons of Taylor Hall and Jordan Staal and you can see why the Hurricanes are finding success this season in terms of putting pucks in the back of the net.
The Canes have also made a more concentrated effort of getting shots from the front of the net this year.
Overall, the team has had less of a reliance on shots from the point and that's allowed more volume from more dangerous areas of the ice.
Carolina is also less reliant on the dump and retrieve and cycle game than many people will give them credit for.
The Canes have seen a tactical shift year over year toward a more rush-based offense, while still allowing room for that dominant, in-zone grind down of teams if those initial chances don't convert.
Sure, the team still puts up a lot of shots, but Carolina is more selective with their shot selection this year as opposed to past years and that's evident by their goal-scoring rate.
The Hurricanes have 12 players who have reached double-digit goals this year, the most by any team in the league, and they are also closing in on four players hitting the 60-point mark.
Carolina doesn't have an elite player up front (they haven't had a 100-point, or 40+ goal player since Eric Staal) but this level of talented depth is something new to this franchise entirely.
This all also comes despite having to deal with a plethora of injuries this year, particularly to top scoring defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, who's missed 26 games so far this season.
Will it be enough to push the Canes over the edge this year, only time will tell, but it's clear that this team has been amongst the best they've ever iced in terms of total goal scoring ability.
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