In Game 4, everything finally came together for the Hurricanes. Is it enough?
SUNRISE, Fla. — After his third game in North America, not long after he helped the Carolina Hurricanes earn at least one more night in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Alexander Nikishin gave the first locker-room speech of his NHL career.
He didn't speak for long; Nikishin, a 23-year-old Russian defenseman who in three KHL seasons went from a solid prospect to a player of intrigue to (it seemed) a ready-made difference-maker, has spent less than six weeks in the United States, and he's had plenty on his plate.
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Someday, he'll have a firm grasp on the language. According to Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin, after Carolina finally played their version of perfect hockey against the Florida Panthers and were rewarded with a 3-0 win on Monday, Nikishin kept it simple.
Good game. Step by step. Good job.
'He's learning,' Slavin said. '(I'll) just keep working with him on it.'
For now, though, there's not much left to say — not for Nikishin, not for Slavin and not for anyone else on the roster. They don't have time to waste, on the ice or off.
To watch the game, indeed, was to be reminded of three things: that the Hurricanes are indeed capable of hanging with the defending champs for three full periods; that their margin for error — throughout a game and the series overall — is virtually nonexistent; and that it's a shame they failed to fully tap into this particular version of themselves at some point over the preceding six days.
There's no point in denying what the Hurricanes would never deny themselves. They were really bad, then they were really good, and the path that lies before them is still really narrow.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour was asked about the danger of flying too high after Monday's result.
'We're not going to do that,' he said. 'But it is nice to, I think, enjoy it for a little bit. I think there's been a lot of crap thrown on this team. I think we can enjoy the game for a little bit.
'We know that they're not going away. This is not even a blip on the radar for them, is how they're looking at it. But we have to keep the gas down, or keep the hammer down and give us a chance again the next game.'
The game Brind'Amour's team had just played, for all intents and purposes, followed the blueprints he'd laid out all series, all season and for the entirety of his time as Carolina's head coach. He wanted to score the first goal. He did not want turnovers. He wanted his team to control five-on-five play. He did not want his goaltender to face many shots. He wanted his goaltender to, when asked, handle business.
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At times over the last week, all that — hitting all the marks, checking all the boxes, doing it all simultaneously in games against an opponent that looks frequently unbeatable — didn't just seem difficult. It seemed impossible.
It wasn't. On Monday, Brind'Amour got everything he wanted.
That first goal is when Nikishin entered the picture. This wasn't purely new for him; he made his playoff debut last round against the Washington Capitals in Carolina's series-clinching win. He showed flashes of the skill that's already made him a burgeoning folk hero in Raleigh, but more often than not, he looked lost. Brind'Amour noticed, sending him back to the press box and only putting him back in the lineup when injuries knocked out regular defensemen Jalen Chatfield and Sean Walker.
Game 3 was a step forward for Nikishin — Brind'Amour was dismayed that four rookies, Nikishin included, were some of Carolina's best players in a 6-2 meltdown loss. Game 4 was something else, though. Nikishin wasn't just surviving; he was providing the spark that Brind'Amour had spent three games chasing.
Entering the game, the Hurricanes hadn't just been outscored 16-4. They'd never even held a lead.
Nikishin helped change that, forcing a turnover at center ice that prevented Florida from sending the puck deep. A nice backhand pass to fellow rookie Logan Stankoven followed in short order. Stankoven, with the Panthers in the middle of bailing on a line change due to Nikishin's play, had enough space to get free and beat Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
'It's a great, great feed by him, to make that play off the turnover,' Stankoven said. 'It all starts with him.'
LOGAN STANKOVEN 🚨
The @Canes have the first goal in Game 4! #StanleyCup
🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/3iQuBcBGyq
— NHL (@NHL) May 27, 2025
Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen, back in the lineup after he was benched for five periods of mediocre play, took it the rest of the way. Captain Jordan Staal said he 'dazzled.' Slavin compared him to a brick wall. Sebastian Aho said he was making every save look easy. Andersen finished with 20 saves on 20 shots and, according to Natural Stat Trick, 1.21 goals saved above expected.
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By the end, after a pair of empty-netters, Carolina had themselves a win. It wasn't easy, but it was how Brind'Amour drew it up. Their playoff losing streak against the Panthers ended at seven. Their 15-game losing streak in the Eastern Conference finals (four with Brind'Amour as captain, 11 with him as coach) ended, too.
Now all they have to do is repeat all that — first goal, minimal mistakes and high-end goaltending against hockey's most terrifying team — three more times. Simple enough.
Nikishin might even stay in the lineup to help. If this was his third game, imagine number four.
'I just like that he's not rattled,' Brind'Amour said. 'Sometimes the young kids that come over, even rookies, they don't realize the moment, how big it is. (They're) just playing hockey. Sometimes it takes a couple of years and they're like, 'Whoa, this is really important.' He looks like he's unfazed.'
Brind'Amour paused.
'I don't know. Can't really tell you.'
(Photo of Alexander Nikishin: Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
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Hurricanes' Chatfield, Walker, Jarvis have no surgery plans for injuries after playoff run
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Zdeno Chara was surprised to be elected to the IIHF Hall of Fame, but he shouldn't have been
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'Obviously, I'd be very, very grateful, But again, like IIHF, I know there's so many names that deserve to be there and, rightfully, they have so many great candidates that should be there. If I am there … we'll see, that's up to others to decide. Right now, I'm just enjoying my life, being a dad … but yes, it would be a tremendous, tremendous honor.' Chara played his final NHL game three years ago at age 45, his 1,680 regular-season games ranking seventh in league history and No. 1 among all defensemen. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff LONG DROUGHT Canada Cupless since 1993 The question in the 1980s and '90s of whether the NHL would thrive in the Sun Belt faded into the twilight by the end of the 20th century, Dallas winning the Stanley Cup in 1999 (six games vs. Buffalo) in what remains Texas's lone star Cup. If anyone still held the romantic notion that the game is best served cold, the state of Florida has smashed such thoughts to smithereens. With the Panthers clinching the East for a third straight year after Advertisement Canada, largely due to the Oilers' powerhouse squads throughout the '80s, saw one of its teams reach the Cup Final in nine consecutive seasons, 1982-90, culminating with Since that last Oiler triumph, a Canadian team has squeezed through to the final only eight times, with the lone win in those 35 years by the Canadiens (1993). It may be Canada's game, but this drought of 30-plus years is by far the longest in its history. The list of Canadian runners up since '93 consists of: Vancouver ('94), Calgary (2004), Edmonton ('06), Ottawa ('07), Vancouver ('11), If the Oilers can close the deal now, it will be the longest distance a Canadian team has gone to get the job done. Air miles, Edmonton to Sunrise, Fla.: 2,546. ETC. Verhaeghe worth the wait Former Bruins captain Brad Marchand , wearing No. 63 for the Panthers, is headed to the Cup Final for a fourth time (with Boston in '11, '13, and '19). 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It was some of both for Verhaeghe, who'll possibly have his name on the Cup for a third time when he celebrates his 30th birthday in August. A left-shot center able to play the wing, he has become a consistent, vital piece of the Panthers attack. Verhaeghe in the fall will enter the first season of an eight-year, $56 million deal he signed with Florida in October. He has full trade protection for the first five years. Just the kind of glue guy Toronto so desperately needs. But the Leafs gave up on him early, bundling him into a package with four others in exchange for Michael Grabner in September 2015. Grabner played one season with Toronto, collected 18 points, then signed with the Rangers as a free agent. Carter Verhaeghe gathers the loose puck against the Carolina Hurricanes during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Karl B DeBlaker/Associated Press Swayman high on Warsofsky Jeremy Swayman's read on Ryan Warsofsky , the Team USA bench boss at the world championship that concluded last Sunday: 'Since [the time] I walked through the door, he was incredible.' Warsofsky, who'll begin his second season as the Sharks coach this fall, was raised in Marshfield and played high school hockey for his hometown Rams, followed by a season at Cushing Academy. He moved into the top job in San Jose last summer after two years as one of David Quinn's assistant coaches. Related : With Swayman in net for Warsofsky, 'I've got nothing to say but great things about Warsy,' offered Swayman, 'the way he carried himself and he's just so well spoken. I think he takes over a room very well. Every one of the guys in there would do anything he asked — and it takes a special kind of human to get 25 or 30 guys all on the same page within three weeks. That's a testament to his coaching ability and his style.' Credit, too, added Swayman, to the entire Team USA staff for such a successful effort, including adapting to the bigger (200x100 feet) European/Olympic ice sheet. 'And you're playing against guys, a lot of them who've been playing with each other for a long time,' continued the Bruins' backstop. 'They have their game plans, know how to play on the [bigger sheet]. To see [Warsofsky] articulate the game and get us to play to our strengths … every one of us knew that we could have a serious chance of winning with him at the helm. 'That's something I'll never forget from him — and he's stuck with me for life now. We're pretty tight … that's pretty cool.' With Swayman in net, the US won its first World gold since 1933. Petr David Josek/Associated Press Shopping list The July 1 unrestricted free agent list includes 17 players, including Marchand and the Oilers' Trent Frederic , who were once property of the Bruins. The list also includes Ryan Lindgren , drafted by Boston at No. 49 in 2016, but dealt to the Rangers (for Rick Nash ) before ever wearing the Spoked B. A look at the pending UFAs, including their most recent team and cap hit (by descending order): Forwards: Marchand, Florida $6.125 million; Reilly Smith , Vegas, $5 million; Sean Kuraly , Columbus, $2.5 million; Frederic, Edmonton, $2.3M; Ryan Donato , Chicago, $2 million; Pat Maroon , Chicago, $1.3 million; Craig Smith , Detroit, $1 million; Curtis Lazar , New Jersey, $1 million; James van Riemsdyk , Columbus, $900,000; Tomas Nosek , Florida, $775,000; Cole Koepke , Boston, $775,000; Justin Brazeau , Minnesota, $775,000. Defensemen: Dmitry Orlov , Carolina, $7.75 million; Lindgren, Colorado, $4.5 million; Matt Grzelcyk , Pittsburgh, $2.75 million; Derek Forbort , Vancouver, $1.5 million; Mike Reilly , NY Islanders, $1.25 million. It's not out of the question that two or three alums could be offered deals to return. Keep in mind, the Bruins were negotiating with Marchand before Donato, 29, is coming off a career season (31-31—62) with the moribund Blackhawks (five consecutive playoff DNQs). That kind of goal production should bring him at least $4 million a year for 3-4 years. The Bruins need goal production, and Donato, who played at Harvard, was still on good terms here when dealt to the Wild for Charlie Coyle ( Grzelcyk, 31, delivered 1-39—40 (career bests for assists and points) this season with the Penguins , who are yet to name a new coach to replace Mike Sullivan . He would not answer the Bruins' need for a power-play quarterback, but he's a good puck mover and defends well with his feet and stick. Maybe two years/$5 million total? Kuraly, 32, left to go home to Columbus in the summer of '21 for a sweet four-year/$10 million deal. A solid citizen with size (6 feet 2 inches, 215 pounds), he'd be a good, heavy bottom-six addition on a one- or two-year deal at, say, $1.4 million per. Maroon, by the way, announced his retirement as his season came to a close with the Blackhawks — his eighth NHL employer over a career that included 848 games and three Cup rings. Loose pucks Marco Sturm , then 27, proved to be the best of the three assets (along with Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart ) the Bruins acquired from San Jose in the infamous Nov. 30, 2005, deal that sent Jumbo Joe Thornton to the Sharks. Also known as 'The German,' Sturm remained in Boston for four more seasons, then was dished to the Kings early in 2010-11, in what was the season the Bruins won the Cup. Among the candidates believed to be interviewing to be the next Bruins bench boss, Sturm, 46, in the spring wrapped up his third season as coach of the Ontario (Calif.) Reign, the Kings' AHL affiliate. They were knocked out, 2-0, in a best-of-three vs. the San Jose Barracuda in the Calder Cup playoffs … Thornton, like Zdeno Chara , has been out of the NHL for three seasons and likely will be a first-ballot shoo-in to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Jumbo (1,539 career points) never won a Cup. His only trip to the Final was in '16, Henri Richard (Montreal), Jean Beliveau (Montreal), Red Kelly (Detroit, Toronto), Maurice 'Rocket' Richard (Montreal). Henri Richard, aka The Pocket Rocket, took home a ring from 11 of those 12 visits … Former forward Jeff Halpern (976 games) just wrapped up his seventh season as one of John Cooper's assistants in Tampa. Seems the Lightning's two Cups and three trips to the Final with him on the beat should be getting the '99 Princeton grad some head coach looks … The rumor mill in recent days has had Mitch Love (Capitals assistant), Jay Woodcroft , and Sturm all certain to be the Bruins' next coach. With apologies to Chief Brody, looks like you're gonna need a bigger bench. Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at
