Jordan Staal added his name to the NHL record books on Thursday night. Staal just scored his sixth goal of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final in Game 5 at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh. 

In doing so, the Carolina Hurricanes captain became the second captain in this expansion era to score at least six goals through the first five games of this series. 

It is the most amount of goals scored through five Final games by any player in the expansion era after Wayne Gretzky, who scored seven goals in the first five games of the 1985 Final.

Staal has now scored in each of the first five games of the series. He opened the final scoring once in Games 1, 2, and 3. He then scored twice in the Hurricanes' Game 4 win.

His Game 5 equalizer brought his tally to six goals in the series, the most by any player through the first five games of a Stanley Cup Final since Wayne Gretzky scored seven in 1985.

Staal is known to be a skilled two-way forward and a player whose value has been measured beyond the goals. He has been Carolina's captain since September 29, 2019. This postseason has shown a different side of the veteran player. 

He hit the 20-goal mark for just the second time in his career with the Hurricanes during the regular season, and that offensive form has carried over into the Final. 

Carolina is now in the lead of the best-of-seven series 3-2 and needs one more win to claim its first Stanley Cup since 2006. 

Staal joins historic Stanley Cup Final goals list

Wayne Gretzky was one of the people on the list. He scored seven goals in five games for the Edmonton Oilers in the 1985 Stanley Cup Final against the Philadelphia Flyers. Gretzky was the captain of those Oilers teams and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Edmonton claimed its second consecutive Stanley Cup. 

Brad Marchand then became the first player since Esa Tikkanen to score six goals in one Stanley Cup Final series in the 2025 Final with the Florida Panthers. 

Tikkanen totalled six goals and three assists in the Oilers' sweep of the Boston Bruins in the 1988 Final. 

Mike Bossy scored seven goals in four games for the New York Islanders in the 1982 Stanley Cup Final against the Vancouver Canucks and won the Conn Smythe Trophy. 

Then Johnny Bucyk of the Boston Bruins scored six goals as Boston swept the St. Louis Blues that year. 

Now, after Thursday, Staal's six goals through five games put him on the same elite list as Marchand, Tikkanen, Bossy, and Bucyk.

For a player whose main focus was defense rather than personal score, his performance in these Finals shows how far he has come to put Carolina just one win away from the Stanley Cup.

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Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason