- Nikolaj Ehlers had three assists in Carolina’s 4-2 Game 5 win, his second straight three-point night
- He has eight points in five Stanley Cup Final games after Winnipeg let him walk in free agency
- Read below for how the Jets buried Ehlers and why Carolina is one win from the Cup
Nikolaj Ehlers left Winnipeg for a bigger role, and the Carolina Hurricanes are getting exactly what they paid for.
Ehlers picked up three assists in Carolina’s 4-2 win over Vegas in Game 5, his second straight three-point night in the Stanley Cup Final. That gives him eight points through five games against the Golden Knights, and it has the Hurricanes one victory away from a championship.
Watch the Game 5 highlights:
His best work came in the middle of the game. Ehlers fed Jordan Staal for the tying goal, then found Andre Svechnikov with a spin pass at the back door for a power-play marker.
Svechnikov made it count:
None of this surprises anyone who watched him in Winnipeg. Jets fans spent years begging their coaches to give Ehlers more ice time and better spots in the lineup. It never really happened.
He flew under the radar there because he never posted a 40-goal or 90-point season. Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele owned the top line, so Ehlers got stuck driving play on a second unit that kept changing around him.
Things look different in Carolina. Ehlers ranks third among Hurricanes forwards in ice time, and he plays the flank on both power-play units, the spot he always wanted.
Rod Brind’Amour was asked what Ehlers has brought to the lineup.
“He always seems to find a way to contribute, and that’s a good mark on him,” Brind’Amour said.
The 30-year-old signed a six-year, $51 million deal with Carolina last July at $8.5 million a year. He is up to seven goals and 17 points in 17 playoff games, third on the team in both categories.
That feed to Staal helped the captain score in his fifth straight Final game, tying a record no one had matched since 1973.
Carolina can close it out in Vegas on Sunday:
One more win, and the player Winnipeg could never find minutes for gets his name on the Stanley Cup.
