In almost every way, Sebastian Aho is the heart of the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Finnish, franchise centerman led the team in goals (35) and points (89 - also a career high) through yet another regular season, but he's also cemented himself as an all-time great in big games too.
Aho is the all-time franchise leader in playoff goals (24) and points (60) and is nearly a point-per-game player in the postseason (65 games).
"We all know, your top guys have to be your top guys if you want to win," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "We definitely need everyone going, but the key players have to be key."
Monday night, Aho continued to prove why he's a top player.
Despite being held off the score sheet through the first 117:45 of the series and hitting the post multiple times Aho never got flustered.
He led the entire team in ice time in Game 2 (23:44), but when the team needed him, down by just a single goal, he delivered.
With Frederik Andersen pulled for the extra attacker, Aho found the quiet spot on the backdoor, set himself in position and redirected Andrei Svechnikov's feed home to tie up the game.
"Just winning hockey games, that's [all that matters]," Aho said. "I mean, we were down a goal so you're just trying to do whatever you can to score a goal and tie the game. I don't think about the personal stuff. You just try to help the team anyway you can. It doesn't matter who scores the goals."
Nine seconds after that, Jordan Martinook scored the game-winner in Carolina's eventual 5-3 win.
But even when he isn't scoring, Aho is making an impact.
"He was good tonight," Brind'Amour said. "He hit two goal posts too and he was around it all night. You know he's going to get his goals and points, but it's his overall game that I thought was really special."
Aho has a 72.73 CF%, 73.51 xGF and he hasn't been on the ice for a goal against through over 30 minutes of 5v5 time in this series.
All while primarily facing the Isles' top line.
"I do think I'm a better player than last year," Aho told The Hockey News. "Points, yeah that's easy to track and stuff like that, and I'm not going to lie, you always want to score points and goals and all that and it feels good, but that's kind of a secondary thing to just trying to be a more complete player and taking care of all the aspects of the game. I do think I've been better this year than I have in the past and hopefully next year I'll be better than this year. That's how I go about it. I just try to get better each and every day and that's kind of the mindset."
There's also the leadership qualities that Aho is exhibiting.
Every game, we see Aho knowing what it takes to win on both sides of the puck and being committed to playing the "right" way.
"The way we responded and came back shows a lot of character and says a lot about this team," Aho said. "We want to get a better start, but we have that belief in the room that we can come back from multiple goals."
That and the way he stands up for his teammates each and every moment its called for.
Take last night's empty netter by Jake Guentzel.
Kyle Palmieri is going after Guentzel after the goal because he's being a sore loser, but like he was shot out of a cannon, Aho flew in and yanked Palmieri down.
In almost every aspect of the game, Aho is proving more and more why he is big-time player and more so proving that he is the heartbeat of the Carolina Hurricanes.
"This is the time of year that matters."
But even while Aho is a complete positive player with or without scoring, the more he does score, the easier it will be for the Canes to reach their ultimate goal.