RALEIGH, N.C. — K’Andre Miller sat on the Carolina Hurricanes bench in an empty arena, cradling his infant son, Kashton, and basking in the glow.There are miles yet to go in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but that image — Miller after the game of his life, in the Hurricanes’ Eastern Conference-title clinching victory on May 29, Kashton near the end of his 27th day on Earth — is sure to stick. So it goes when television cameras are in the building.Miller exhaled and shook his head. He looked up at the rafters. He looked down at his boy. And in that moment, somewhere between the bench and the hospital, another Hurricane rode shotgun in an unmarked police car (silver Mustang, lights on) speeding toward the delivery room for the birth of his own son.Jalen Chatfield, in team-issued gear and with post-win adrenaline still pumping, made it to his wife, Drew, in approximately 20 minutes. She’d gone into labor around the time her husband hit the ice for warmups and texted Hurricanes manager of team services Mike Brown to give him the update and to ask him not to tell Chatfield until the game was over.Chatfield’s son Rhodes arrived approximately two hours after his dad’s police escort.“It was a very confusing moment,” Chatfield said. “I went from celebrating with the guys to rushing out to in a quiet hospital room, getting ready to have a baby.“There was no other way I’d rather have it. It was one of the best nights of my life.”He’s the third Hurricanes defenseman to express that sentiment during their playoff run. Addison Clark, Miller’s girlfriend, gave birth to Kashton before Carolina’s second-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers. Taylor Walker, whose husband Sean is Miller’s defensive partner, gave birth to daughter Quinn a few days later. Rhodes Chatfield, meanwhile, waited until the Stanley Cup Final matchup was set to join Jalen, Drew and big brother Krew.Hockey players becoming fathers for the first time in the middle of the postseason, or seeing their families grow, is far from unprecedented stuff. Part of that is simple math; May and June are nine months after August and September, the peak of the NHL offseason, and a full playoff run can last from April to June.