RALEIGH, N.C. — The answer was out of Jaccob Slavin’s mouth before the question was even completed.Growing up watching the NHL, which player had the greatest influence on him?Not even close.“(Nicklas) Lidstrom, for sure — for sure,” Slavin said, with emphasis on the last “for sure” as his face lit up. “He was unbelievable. I feel like the way he played the game. He was never the most physical guy. Some of the older guys that have come through the locker room talk about trying to dump a puck in on him, and he’s knocking it down, and you can’t get by him, that kind of stuff. I tried to model my game after that and definitely growing up watched that.’’Well, if you’re going to try to model your game after someone, a seven-time Norris Trophy winner and top-three all-time defenseman is probably the way to go.And guess what? The Perfect Human, Lidstrom’s nickname from his Detroit Red Wings teammates in his heyday, thought it was neat when informed by The Athletic that he was Slavin’s hockey hero.“Glad to hear he had me as a hero growing up!” the Hockey Hall of Famer said Wednesday via email. “Jaccob is a very good skater with good gap control and really good positioning on the ice. Makes it hard on forwards to get on the inside and create scoring chances when he’s on the ice.”Jack Eichel got a reminder of that in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night. The Carolina Hurricanes wanted Slavin out against Eichel and the Vegas Golden Knights’ top line all night. The first period belonged to Slavin, at plus-2 against Eichel. But the Knights’ top line got its licks in too as the night went on, Eichel assisting on Ivan Barbashev’s goal 30 seconds into the second period with Slavin on the ice en route to a Golden Knights comeback victory.That matchup, Slavin versus Eichel, will be the juiciest of the Stanley Cup Final.Eichel knows what he’s up against with the Slavin matchup in this championship series, having gotten to know the league’s top defensive defenseman as a Team USA teammate at both the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Olympics.How does Eichel see Slavin’s game?“Trust,” Eichel said after searching for the right word. “That’s the big thing. You trust him in big situations. He’s so responsible defensively. He makes a ton of little plays that help you win games. That was one thing I noticed (at the Olympics): the group has a lot of confidence when he’s on the ice, but he does so many little things defensively that don’t show up on the scoresheet but help you win.“He was such a big part of our team and the success we had. He keeps it pretty simple when he has the puck on his stick, but all the things he does without it really add up.”With Team Canada tilting the ice like crazy in that gold-medal game in Milan, Slavin’s work against Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini was a big part in the Americans finding a way.