Shayne Gostisbehere Delivers 1 Goal, 3 Assists For Hurricanes
shayne gostisbehere has one goal and three assists through the first four games of the Stanley Cup Finals, giving the Carolina Hurricanes steady production from the blue line. His scoring run has come while Carolina sat two wins away from the franchise’s second Stanley Cup title before Thursday night’s Game 5 puck drop.
Gostisbehere's Cup Final start
The Hurricanes defenseman scored a goal in his Cup debut last week and kept adding to it through the next three games. Through four games, he has a goal and three assists, and that output has put him among the more productive Carolina skaters in the series.
He is usually used on the point of the team’s first power play unit, which gives him the kind of role that can turn a defenseman’s touches into direct scoring chances. The Cup Final run has given him another stage to do that, with his first goal in the series coming right after his debut.
Union College to Carolina
The playoff production fits the path Gostisbehere has taken to get here. He was part of Union College’s 2014 national championship season, won Frozen Four MVP honors that year and scored in the title game against Minnesota as Union claimed its first Division I NCAA hockey championship.
He graduated from Union in 2015 and joined the Philadelphia Flyers for his first full season in the NHL months later. In the 2015-16 season, he finished second to Artemi Panarin in Calder Trophy voting, led Flyers defensemen with 46 points, scored 17 goals and made the 2016 NHL All-Rookie Team.
Hurricanes two wins away
Gostisbehere’s current run also ties back to that earlier college success in a direct way. Two years ago, he returned to Union’s campus for the 10-year anniversary of the 2014 championship team’s win, and now he is carrying that background into a Finals race with Carolina two wins from another title.
Over his 12-year professional career, he has played for four teams — the Flyers, Arizona Coyotes, Detroit Red Wings and Hurricanes — and this season in Carolina he has 13 goals and 37 assists. That makes his first four games in the Stanley Cup Finals part of a larger season line that has already shown he can drive offense from the back end.
