Slavin returns, orchestrating a thrilling comeback. His game-winning assist ignites the Hurricanes, showcasing his elite playmaking and impact.
For the first time since the start of the season, the Carolina Hurricanes had their full complement of skaters available for a game as the team welcomed back star defenseman Jaccob Slavin for just his sixth game of the year.
As they took on the Seattle Kraken Saturday, you could tell just how much the Canes missed the veteran blueliner.
Well, other than when he got danced around by Matt Beniers...
"I felt good," Slavin said postgame. "Maybe a little rusty. Maybe the one-on-ones might need some work. Haven't had a lot of those lately."
But outside of the one gaffe, you could see Slavin getting better and better as the game went on, all culminating in a game-winner that only a high-end player like him is capable of pulling off.
Slavin, 31, has had a challenging year, dealing with injuries since even the offseason.
He missed the preseason while dealing with a lower-body injury, that was then reaggravated just two games into the regular season.
The veteran blueline then missed the next 28 games before returning with a limited workload, to then suffer an upper-body injury after just three games following an uncalled board.
But he's back again and the cascading effect of his presence is going to be huge for Carolina as it already was against the Kraken.
Slavin played 19:35 in his first game back, racking up two hits, a game-winning primary assist and holding a 12-3 edge in scoring chances in his 5v5 minutes.
"He's such an exceptional player," said captain Jordan Staal. "He just moves the puck out of our end and into their end all game long. Obviously a little welcome back in the first period, but he came back, obviously not surprising, with a big goal to cap it off. Just such a great stick, great positioning, just so hard to play against. It was nice to have him back."
The Canes also wouldn't have been able to pull off the regulation win without Slavin as it all came to fruition thanks to his quick read and decisive action.
With a heads up play, Slavin activated from the neutral zone with a burst of speed and executed a give-and-go with Jordan Staal, crashing the net after the initial pass off, to put himself in a primary scoring position.
"I saw Jarv pull up, so I just tried to get up in the play," Slavin said. "He draws two guys to him, so it's easy for him to make that play and then I saw the next open guy and figured I'd keep going to the net, why not, and Jordo gave it back to me. Obviously big net-front presence there by Carrier too."
He made no mistake and while William Carrier technically wound up with the goal, it was all Slavin.
After the game, Jordan Martinook referred to Jaccob Slavin as "The General."
"Slavo is kind of the general back there and has been forever," Martinook said. "You don't know how many simple, good plays he makes when he's out there, but when he's not, you're like, 'Oh, if he was out here, that wouldn't be in our zone.' Just some of the things he does is pretty special."
So naturally, I was like, "What's a historical figure I can compare Slavin to in this instance?"
So after a bit of research, I give you Lieutenant General "Chesty" Puller, the most decorated marine in American history.
A decorated and accomplished American leader and one who preached discipline and accountability.
And the specific anecdote from Puller's service that I'd like to bring attention to is during WWII, he suffered "upper" and "lower" body injuries in the Battle of Koli Point, but after surgery and just 10-days of recovery, he returned to action to lead his "team" to success once again.
So welcome back, General Jaccob "Chesty" Slavin.
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