Taylor Hall is a natural Hurricane, and 4 seconds in Game 4 proved it
RALEIGH, N.C. — Four seconds isn't much time.
On Monday night, that's how long it took for the puck to hit Taylor Hall's stick, for Hall's skates to carry him from the blue line to the high slot, and for his shot to buzz past Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson.
That's also how long it took to land on one particularly timely conclusion: That goal — that sequence, in that moment, at this juncture of the Stanley Cup playoffs — is why Taylor Hall is a Carolina Hurricane.
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Hall, a 33-year-old former MVP who'd spent 1 1/2 seasons of his dwindling prime killing time on an NHL bottom-feeder, did in May exactly what Carolina acquired him to do back in January. As an opponent made its push, with the Hurricanes' control of the series in the balance, Hall held the dagger — and he buried it.
'He won the (Hart Trophy in 2017-18) for a reason. He was an elite player. He still is,' Seth Jarvis said. 'And you love to see a guy like that get rewarded and to come up in a situation like this, when it really matters, was awesome to see.'
Can't leave Taylor Hall open! pic.twitter.com/ReerGoyjbI
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) May 13, 2025
If it plays out any differently — if Hall slips offside, or if his shot goes wide, or if Thompson guesses correctly — who knows where things go for Carolina?
That could read as hyperbole, and that's not the intent; we've just seen this movie a couple of times before, at least as it relates to the Hurricanes. They were in the second round of the playoffs, outplaying their opponent dramatically, period-over-period and game-over-game, and still one bounce away from heading into Game 5 tied 2-2, moving back into a neighborhood they'd taken great pains to leave behind.
And now, with a large assist from Hall, they're one win away from closing out the Capitals in a series that on merit deserves to be 3-1. For three minutes and six seconds after a goal by Jacob Chychrun cut Carolina's lead to 2-1, it felt like they weren't going to get there.
Washington was buzzing, and the puck was in Carolina's end. On the retrieval, defenseman Sean Walker rimmed it to center Jack Roslovic, who'd clocked Hall waiting on the far blue line. Both knew exactly what they were doing.
'Everyone's asking me if I was cheating,' Hall said. He wasn't. Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour backed him up.
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'If I didn't get a breakaway there, we were going to exit with possession,' Hall said. 'So I thought it was something to try. And (Roslovic) and I made eye contact, and he made a great pass.'
All that — the hockey sense, the creativity, the connection with Roslovic — only got Hall halfway home. He still needed the one-on-one strategy and finishing talent it'd take to beat a high-end goalie who'd already caused Carolina plenty of problems in the first 11 periods.
'I got my head up and tried to look where (Thompson) was. He plays somewhat deep in his net. So shooting is a pretty good option,' he said. 'If you deke, he's going to have a better chance at it. So, I just picked my corner, and it was a good shot.'
Good shot. Big shot.
'It kind of gave us a breath,' defenseman Dmitry Orlov said.
For Carolina, it was a shot that took root, at the latest, back in January. In Raleigh, they were in the middle of what's become a typical season: cruising for a playoff berth and doing it in statistically dominant fashion, controlling possession and scoring chance share at a metronomically elite level. That's been the story, more or less, for seven years.
In that span, though, Carolina hasn't made the Stanley Cup Final. It's the sort of stacked-up instances of almost-but-not-quite that dials up the pressure — and Carolina GM Eric Tulsky acted accordingly, trading for Mikko Rantanen and Hall in one swoop on Jan. 24. If you thought the Hurricanes were averse to all-in moves … actually, if you thought that, you missed the Jake Guentzel trade. If you wanted more proof, for whatever reason, the Rantanen and Hall deals provided that in full. More importantly, they added professional goal-scorers.
You know what happened to the first guy. He doesn't work here anymore. Hall remains, and all signs point to him sticking around a while longer; he signed a three-year extension after the Hurricanes' first-round win over New Jersey. As of Monday night, they've already recouped a chunk of it.
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There are reasons to think that willl continue, too. Even if Hall's not scoring huge breakaway goals at the most crucial of moments, he is a stylistic and systematic fit. He spent 31 regular-season games showing it, and now nine in the playoffs. All the elements of a Brind'Amour player — the speed and tenacity necessary to pressure puck carriers, the skill necessary to consistently create chances when the puck changes hands — are present.
Look at Carolina's fourth goal, which (again) restored a two-goal cushion. Watch Hall pressure Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin along the boards, dislodge the puck and shuffle it ahead to Walker. That's a lab-quality Hurricanes scoring sequence.
Sean Walker gets the insurance goal! 🙌 #StanleyCup
🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/vix7sj9EAe
— NHL (@NHL) May 13, 2025
Hall knew the fit made sense well before Tuesday night; he'd played Carolina plenty of times with the Devils and in a playoff series with the Boston Bruins.
'As soon as I got here and they kind of gave the systems rundown and showed some video,' he said, 'I was even more happy. (The) style of play is aggressive. It's in your face. Once you get the hang of it, there's not a lot of thinking. And that bodes well for my game.'
Brind'Amour needed a bit of a refresher. 'I obviously know the player, but I didn't know where his game was at,' he said. 'I hadn't really watched him the last little while.'
Getting marooned with the Chicago Blackhawks, as Hall did, will have that effect on a person. The excitement and relief he felt after Tulsky threw him a life preserver were clear, and Brind'Amour made sure the vibes continued to improve.
'It was good to just give him a clean slate. I just kind of said, 'Look, you show us what you have,' and that's kind of what he's done,' Brind'Amour said. 'I think he's come in here and just wanted to be part of it. Not anything more than that. And he's clearly been a good addition for us.'
A good addition at the right time.
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