RALEIGH, N.C. — Jordan Staal called the idea that the Hurricanes have had an easy road to the Eastern Conference final “funny.” Coach Rod Brind’Amour took it a step further, saying it is discourse not even worth having.

“Anyone who says that is just wasting time,” he said.

The Hurricanes, however, have plenty of time to waste. With their next opponent being decided by Saturday at the earliest, Carolina is combining high-energy practices with strategic time off.

“You don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Brind’Amour said of trying to improve at this point of the season. “Obviously, we’ve got to get better at everything we’re doing, so we’re going to focus on that. But I don’t think you want to deviate too much from what you’re doing. It’s just, we always say, sharpening the knife. We’ve got to keep razor-sharp on what we do well.”

The team is healthy heading into the ECF, but having more than a week between games means attempting to stay sharp while also tending to any bumps and bruises.

And despite being 8-0 through two rounds, the Hurricanes believe they have even more to give.

“I honestly think we have another level to get to. … We are playing well, and it’s great to get the sweeps, but I think we do have another level to get to,” center Logan Stankoven said after finishing off the Flyers in Game 4 last Saturday. “And I’m sure if you could ask any of the guys, they’d agree with me.”

Brind’Amour likes that his team is not satisfied.

“Can we be more efficient in certain areas? Yeah,” Brind’Amour said. “And then we’re going to have to be as we move on. I just love that that’s how they’re thinking.”

So how does Carolina reach another level?

Make it easier on Freddie

Frederik Andersen is having a historic postseason so far, becoming one of four goalies — along with Terry Sawchuk (Detroit, 1952), Jacques Plante (twice: Montreal, 1960 and St. Louis, 1969) and Grant Fuhr (Edmonton, 1985) to win their first eight playoff starts in a season.

Of those players, Andersen has faced the fewest shots (201), but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been challenged. According to Natural Stat Trick, Andersen has faced the second-most all situations rush chances (20), behind only Philadelphia’s Dan Vladar (21).

Carolina has been shielding Andersen from a high volume of high-danger chances — 52 in all situations, which is ninth among playoff goalies. The big difference, however, is that Andersen is stopping those chances. He’s allowed four high-danger goals, including only two on 37 five-on-five opportunities.

The Hurricanes have also been short-handed more than any team on average — 8:32 per game — and down two men six times. The 15 other playoff teams have defended a five-on-three 11 times, and no other team more than twice.

All of this is to say that Andersen has been spectacular, but Carolina could probably make it easier on its veteran goalie.

“I still think Freddie’s had to play very well for us to win games,” left wing Taylor Hall said.

Recharge the power play

As illustrated above, Carolina’s penalty kill has been lights out. The power play? Not so much.

After finishing the regular season ranked fourth in the NHL with a 24.9 percent conversion rate, the Hurricanes have barely operated at half that success rate. Through two rounds, Carolina is 5 of 37 on the power play, its 13.5 percent ranking 12th among 16 playoff teams.

“We can be better in certain areas,” Brind’Amour said. “We can score more on the power play.”

The biggest issue has been that Carolina’s top unit, which has seen about 38 minutes of man-advantage ice time to about 22 minutes for the second unit, has scored just once in the postseason.

The second unit, meanwhile, has four goals, led by a pair from Stankoven.

Regardless, scoring only once every seven or eight opportunities probably won’t cut it in the upcoming rounds.

“I think our power play can elevate a bit,” Hall said, “and be more dangerous and be more consistent. … (It’s) probably the biggest thing that can elevate us to another level.”

Top line wakes up

The PP1 issues trickle down from what’s been going on at five-on-five. The top line of Sebastian Aho centering Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis hasn’t been bad, per se, but it hasn’t contributed offensively as expected.

Combined, the trio has 11 points — one fewer than Hall — and four at five-on-five.

Aho has been adamant that only one statistic counts.

“All that matters is winning right now,” Aho said. “We know we’ve got to be better at certain areas, but at the same time, wins are the only thing that matters right now.

“I’ve had series in the past and had some success myself, but then losing the series. And trust me, when I say this: It’s way more fun. This is exactly what we’re supposed to do, is win hockey games. And that’s, like I said, all that matters.”

The Hurricanes’ top line has certainly contributed — it’s just been at the other end of the ice.

All three players were not on the ice for a goal against during the Flyers series and have allowed one goal through eight playoff games.

“I don’t think he’s not confident. He’s actually played well,” Brind’Amour said when specifically asked about Aho. “He’s just not on the score sheet. But their line defensively is actually probably the best he’s played, their whole line, ever with (the) way they’re going about it. They’re just not scoring.”

Jarvis joked earlier in the week that he isn’t the person to ask about goal scoring, but he believes his line getting going will make Carolina even tougher to handle.

“If you can get all lines contributing, I think that’s going to be a big boost,” he said. “I think if I can get going and kind of help out (the other) lines a little bit offensively, I think that that just adds a whole element to our team.”

Brind’Amour has remained nonplussed about his No. 1 line’s point totals.

“They’re playing against the other team’s best guys, and they’ve sawed that off,” he said. “If they had scored 15 goals and given up 15, that’s the same thing. So they’ve done a good job. And we do need them to get on the score sheet — (Aho) knows that — but I’ve been happy with the way they’ve gone about their business.”

Stay the course

The most important thing the Hurricanes can do is not press for these improvements. What they’ve done through two rounds has worked, and Staal thinks the best recipe for success is consistency.

“I don’t know if we need to get another level,” he said. “We’ve just got to sustain what we’re doing and play the way we can and way we need to. I think everyone in this room has given everything they had from the start of this playoffs — and all season long, really — and it’s just, really, it can’t change.”

That and stay hungry.

“We’ve been able to win games, and we’ve been playing at a good level,” Aho said. “But I think it’s good that the team is still more hungry and knowing that we have certain details in the game that we can be even better. So just work toward those and still have the same effort that we put in every game.”