ELMONT, N.Y. — The Carolina Hurricanes forward depth already was stretched thin before Jack Drury sustained an upper-body injury 3:30 into Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the New York Islanders on Sunday.
So when coach Rod Brind’Amour looked down the bench for someone to replace Drury on the Hurricanes top line with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis, the decision was actually pretty simple.
“I just didn’t have really much choice,” Brind’Amour said. “Sometimes it’s easy. The choices are made for you and when you’re short, you’re looking at the next guy up.”
That next guy turned was Mackenzie MacEachern, who turned out to be the perfect fit with Aho and Jarvis, scoring a goal and assisting on another in Carolina’s 5-2 win at UBS Arena.
There were plenty of other heroes, including Jarvis scoring two goals, Aho getting a goal and two assists and Antti Raanta making 27 saves, that added up to Carolina earning its first road Stanley Cup Playoff win since 2021 (1-8) and taking a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.
But MacEachern’s performance in his first NHL game this season provided an example of what the Hurricanes will need to not only advance beyond the Islanders but also make the run at the Stanley Cup they expected when this season began.
“It’s kind of been our situation for a while now,” Aho said. “We talked about it. It’s going to definitely be a team effort. It can’t be one guy. It’s just every player just gives that one extra inch and that’s how you move forward.”
[RELATED: Complete Hurricanes vs. Islanders series coverage]
The Hurricanes can move past the Islanders with another win at home in Game 5 on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, BSSO, MSG, MSGSN). Then, they’d faced the winner of the Eastern Conference First Round series between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils.
But if they get that far, they might not have anyone return to their depleted forward corps to help them. Brind’Amour didn’t have an update postgame on Drury, who was injured on a boarding hit New York defenseman Ryan Pulock.
Drury was the Carolina’s previous “next man up,” filling in for Teuvo Teravainen, who is out indefinitely after breaking his left hand in Game 2 on Wednesday. With Andrei Svechnikov (torn ACL) and Max Pacioretty (torn Achilles tendon) out for the season, the Hurricanes are missing three of their top six forwards.
That means they’ll need more from top players such as Aho and Jarvis, but also unlikely heroes like MacEachern, who…
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