Hurricanes are picking up steam
RALEIGH, N.C. - They have been billed as the underdogs for two straight playoff series, and given the final Eastern Conference standings, perhaps they are.
But a deeper look at the Carolina Hurricanes shows a more impressive cast, one that features 10 players who have won the Stanley Cup - such as Eric Staal, Ray Whitney, Rod Brind'Amour, and the 2006 Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the most valuable player of the playoffs, goaltender Cam Ward.
A team concept has allowed the Hurricanes to take a 2-1 lead over the Bruins in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series that resumes tonight at the RBC Center.
The 24-year-old Staal has 10 points in 10 playoff games, including Carolina's first goal in Wednesday's 3-2 overtime win in Game 3.
"We wanted to learn from the last round, for sure," said Staal. "[Against the Devils], we kept fighting and clawing back to even the series and then ended up getting it in Game 7, but we wanted to make sure to get ahead and win our home games. You've got to win at home and it was big and we look forward to the next game."
The playoffs are a time when the spotlight is on the top players, but it's also a time when unsung heroes emerge. And that is true in the case of 26-year-old Jussi Jokinen, who potted the winner in Game 3 against the Bruins, and against New Jersey with 0.2 seconds in regulation to win Game 4 and tie the series.
Jokinen was acquired from Tampa Bay in early February. He was struggling with the Lightning, being waived twice with no other club picking him up. He has blossomed this spring.
"He's been phenomenal," said Staal. "He seems to be finding those areas where the puck is kind of following him."
Coach Paul Maurice said Jokinen has embraced his opportunity.
"We used him in so many different roles and he's excelled in all of them," said Maurice. "He plays all three forward positions and every time you put him out there he [does] a really, really good job and you just want to play him more."
Another important cog has been former Bruin Sergei Samsonov. Samsonov had his first goal of the postseason in Game 3, when he put the Hurricanes ahead, 2-1, at 17:58 of the second period, and it was Samsonov who set up Jokinen's tally with a backhander from the right circle that pinged off Bruins goalie Tim Thomas and out to Jokinen.
Samsonov, 30, has had to adjust his game to one that isn't largely offensive. In 1998, he won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year with 47 points in 81 games, but improved to a career-high 75 points in 2000-01 and 70 in 2001-02. This season, he had 48 points in 81 regular-season games, averaging 17 minutes 19 seconds of ice time.
"When you just break into the league, that's all you know," said Samsonov, referring to initially relying on his skill set. "Rarely does someone come into the league and do things defensively that mature guys do. It takes time, it takes years and sometimes it takes a playoff experience to learn that."
"If you look at our lines, they're very consistent," added Samsonov, whose only appearance in the Stanley Cup finals was in 2006 with Edmonton, which lost to Carolina in seven games. "The first line plays the same way as our fourth line. I don't think you can tell the difference what line is on the ice. Once we learned the system and kind of figured things out, it's been a learning process for all of us, but the last month of the season everybody has been on the same page and we learned we have to win a certain way."
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com. 
