Heading into Game 4, the Carolina Hurricanes had been outscored 16-4 by the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final.

They had gotten absolutely smoked in three straight games and there was hardly anyone on the team that you could point to as having had even close to a decent series so far.

Again, hardly anyone.

Because despite all of that, somehow Jaccob Slavin is still continuing to shine, just like every time he's been on hockey's biggest stages.

Slavin plays not only the most, but also the most difficult minutes for the Hurricanes night in and night out and this series has been no exception.

He leads the team in ice time, and every game his that number is starting to creep higher and higher. 

And even with those tough assignments and in games Carolina was getting blown out in, Slavin was just not allowing goals. In fact, the veteran blueliner has allowed just a single 5v5 goal while he's been on the ice this series.

And after Game 4, where he was on the ice for all three Hurricanes goals, he's now the only Carolina skater to have outscored the Panthers in his minutes.

Not only that, but Slavin is actually winning his minutes too in terms of chance generation. At 5v5, the defenseman has outchanced Florida 70-65, has a 13-11 edge in high-danger chances and an expected goals for percentage of a 59.65%.

"If you watched the way we played tonight, everyone put their heart on the line and played extremely hard," Slavin said after Game 4. "We know we have a good group in here and all the pieces, we just have to bring it every night and that's what happened tonight. We brought it and there was no lapses and everyone played hard, everyone worked hard and we were doing it together."

It's simply just crazy how good he has been.

Slavin is truly the heart of soul of the Carolina Hurricanes. As he goes, so too does the team go.

He's an elite, two-way defenseman, probably the brightest and best defensively in the entire league, and he that makes a difference every time he steps out onto the ice.

And if Carolina is going to have a chance in this series, he's going to be out on the ice an awful lot.

"If he could play all of them, we would and he'd want to too," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour on Slavin's increasing minutes. "We know the situation. We have to. We don't have a choice. It's a good choice to have and if he can handle the minutes, he's gonna be out there."

"I think anybody would say the more they play, the more they get into the game," Slavin said. "So yeah, I don’t mind those minutes at all. It’s fun when you’re playing a lot of hockey. That’s all you can ask for."

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