(41) reacts in the first period at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The Carolina Hurricanes have improved this offseason, but no amount of improvement can help them avoid some nasty streaks of games on the schedule.
The Canes have added James Wisniewski and Noah Hanifin to the fray on defense and Eddie Lack to the goaltending discussion since the end of the offseason, and they let depth players like Patrick Dwyer and Brett Bellemore head to free agency.
Now that we are under two months away from the regular season, it is time to look at what the schedule will have to offer the club.
Luckily for the Canes, they will only take 4 road trips of 3+ games. That’s opposed to 6 homestands of 3+ games in the coming year.
This will likely prove very beneficial for the Hurricanes, a team that played above NHL .500 hockey on home ice (18-16-7), compared to its horribly sub par record on the road (12-25-4).
Hopefully this team will take advantage of their homestands and put together some solid hockey in front of the fans at the PNC Arena, but whether or not they do, they will play some tough teams on the road.
Let’s take a look at the four 3+ game road trips that the Carolina Hurricanes will play this season and rank them based on difficulty.
Next: 3 Games in Canada
Oct 21, 2014; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Winnipeg Jets forward Ladd (16) scores on Carolina Hurricanes goalie Khudobin (31) during the first period at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports
#4: A Trip to Canada in February
WHEN: February 3 – February 7 (3rd, 5th, and 7th)
WHO: Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, and Montreal Canadiens
That Carolina Hurricanes will take a quick, three game trip above the border in early February to take on 2 Western Conference opponents and 1 Eastern Conference opponent. It will be the team’s only three-game road trip of the season.
The trip will start in Alberta against the Calgary Flames. The Flames are undoubtedly a team on the rise, and they will be a year older when the Canes take them on this season.
Calgary not only made the playoffs last year and shocked the whole league, but they also advanced to the 2nd round in the West and gave Anaheim a little bit of a push in a 5-game series, all without their workhorse and captain Mark Giordano after he had a season ending injury prior to the playoffs.
Now, the Flames are healthy, a year older, still very youthful, and they have a key new addition in Dougie Hamilton on the blue line. They have a fantastic young core on defense, and players like Sean Monahan, Jiri Hudler, and Johnny Gaudreau up front will lead the charge offensively. This team finished 10th in the league in scoring a year ago.
The Hurricanes split their two games with the Flames last season with both teams winning on their home ice. Both games were very close, and the two clubs actually were tied in shots (47-47) and faceoff victories (59-59) in the 2 match-ups.
Next, the Hurricanes will take on former head coach Paul Maurice and the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets, a playoff team a year ago, got swept by the Ducks in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Former Carolina Hurricanes 1st round draft pick and current Jets captain Andrew Ladd will be poised to lead this team to another playoff season in 2015-2016, and he will have a good group around him.
The Hurricanes lost both games against Winnipeg last season and got outscored by the team 6-2.
The road trip will end in Montreal with a date with the Canadiens and former Hurricane Alexander Semin.
Of course, the headline here, if Semin is in the lineup, will be the Canes going up against the team for the first time on Canadien soil since the infamously massive buyout in July.
The Habs beat Carolina all three times last season and they outscored the Canes 11-2. The Hurricanes couldn’t find the back of the net to save their lives against this team last season, and that will need to change if they want to end this early-February road trip on a good note.
Luckily for the Hurricanes, this road trip has a day off in between each game, which will make travel wear and tear less of an issue.
Next: Tis the Season for Road Trips
Mar 2, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Staal (12) moves the puck defended by Anaheim Ducks defenseman Fowler (4) and Anaheim Ducks defenseman Lovejoy (6) during the second period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
#3: Pre-Christmas Road Trip
WHEN: December 8 – December 15 (8th, 11th, 12th, and 15th)
WHO: Dallas Stars, Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, and Philadelphia Flyers
Before the Carolina Hurricanes come home for the holiday, they will have to travel across the country and back for a four-game road trip.
This week-long trip will start in the Lone Star State against the Dallas Stars.
The Stars have a downright lethal offense on paper. The club went out and added Patrick Sharp over the summer, and he looks to fit in perfectly with Jamie Benn (the league’s leading scorer last season), Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Valeri Nichushkin, and others.
The club also added veteran defenseman Johnny Oduya, which will add experience and reliability to the blue line in Dallas. Sharp and Oduya both won the Stanley Cup in Chicago in June.
The Stars and Hurricane split their two games a season ago. Both teams scored 9 goals and won on the other team’s home ice.
A few days later, the Hurricanes will hit the coast and take on the Anaheim Ducks.
The Ducks did a couple notable things this offseason. They inked Ryan Kessler to a big-time contract extension, and they went out and traded for Carl Hagelin from the Rangers, whom they extended just a day ago.
Anaheim had a monster season in 2015-2016, but they fell one round short of the Stanley Cup Finals. They will be hungry for a Championship this season, and they will play the Hurricanes very tough because every game will be important for them.
The Hurricanes got swept by the Ducks a year ago, losing one game in regulation and one game in overtime; however, both games were tight, one goal games. The Canes got outshot by an average of 10 shots in both games.
In the third game of the trip, the Hurricanes will head to the desert and take on the Arizona Coyotes.
Arizona appears to be a bottom-dweller team and a contender for the first-overall pick next June, but they do bolster some decent players.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson is a top-15 defenseman in my opinion, if not higher. He flies incredibly under the radar and will be a threat for a 40 or 50-point year from the blue line this season. He is a threat every time he hits the ice.
Other than that, Arizona will likely welcome in young talent like Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, and maybe even Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini up front. They will accompany veterans Shane Doan and Antoine Vermette, among others.
The Carolina Hurricanes won both games against the bottom-three finishing Arizona Coyotes last season and outscored them 5-1. The Canes averaged nearly 40 shots per game against the Yotes in 2014-2015.
The Canes will come back east to finish the trip and take on their Metropolitan Division rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers.
Philly locked up Jakub Voracek to a monster 8-year extension this summer, and he will undoubtedly form a fantastic first line with Claude Giroux at center.
The Flyers can be dangerous, but they likely won’t push for the playoffs this season. In terms of projected finish in the Eastern Conference, they are pretty even with the Hurricanes, if not a bit better.
Philadelphia’s offense certainly has some great players, but their defense is weak. They seem to have a lot of number 4/5 defensemen and no one that really stands out as a solid top-two option.
In net, Steve Mason will hold things down for the orange and black. He is a very underrated goalie, and he will have to carry this team to a playoff birth this season if they want to have a chance.
The Hurricanes beat up on the Flyers last season, posting a 4-1-0 record. They struck often on the power play as well, scoring on over 20% of their man advantage opportunities.
Next: Important Games in March
Nov 8, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Lindholm (16) and Washington Capitals center Latta (46) battle for the puck in the second period at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
#2: Potential Season Deciding Games in March
WHEN: March 10 – March 19 (10th, 12th, 15th, 17th, 19th)
WHO: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Minnesota Wild
This road trip in mid-March could be a doozy for the Carolina Hurricanes as they play some important in-conference games near the end of the season.
They will start in Bean Town, and the big, bad Bruins aren’t really big or bad anymore.
In other words, you probably won’t see a brawl similar to the one we saw in October of 2011.
The whole complexion of this team has changed after seeing guys like Milan Lucic, Nathan Horton, and Shawn Thornton move on out over the past few seasons, but their core is still in place, and they will compete.
Their aging captain Zdeno Chara is still there, Patrice Bergeron, a yearly candidate for the Selke Trophy, will be there, the most annoying player in the league, Brad Marchand, will be there, and of course Tuukka Rask will be in net and will bring elite goaltending to the club.
Last season, the Hurricanes had a record of 1-1-1 against the Bruins. They were very low scoring games with an average of just 3 total goals scored per game. Also, neither team scored on the powerplay in those three games.
The Canes will get a couple days off and stay in the North-East for a game in Buffalo on the 12th of March.
The Sabres are much improved and could even push for a playoff spot. This team could be in a bubble situation in March, which means they will give it their all in a game like this.
Evander Kane, Jack Eichel, and Ryan O’Reilly will all make their Sabres debuts this season, and their offense will likely be pretty good, but they have a young and unproven defense and goaltending.
Will Robin Lehner be able to carry the load in net and play good hockey as a starter? That will be an important story to follow this season for Buffalo.
The Carolina Hurricanes posted a 1-1-1 record against the Buffalo Sabres a year ago in 3 competitions. Despite losing 2 of 3 games, the Hurricanes outscored the Sabres 11-10 and annihilated them in the faceoff circle, winning 65% of the draws (122 of 188).
A couple days later, the Hurricanes will head a little south to take on their long-time rival Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center.
The Canes and Caps always play tight, aggressive games, and this game will be no different. At this point in the season, Washington will probably looking to clinch a spot in the playoffs in the Metropolitan Division, which means they won’t take it easy on the Hurricanes.
Of course, Alex Ovechkin will lead the way on the Caps first line with Niklas Backstrom down the middle and probably new addition T.J. Oshie on the other wing.
Washington will be extremely dangerous as always, and the Hurricanes will need Justin Faulk to lead the push defensively in order to allow the Staal brothers, Jeff Skinner, Elias Lindholm, and company to get some offense.
Last year, the Caps won the season series with a 2-1-1 record. The Canes got outscored by a slim margin of 10-9.
Speaking of really good players, the Carolina Hurricanes will ship out to Pittsburgh to take on the fellas from the Steel City.
The Pens will have all of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel among others up front. They have 3 of the top-10 offensive players in the league, so they will be scoring a whole lot of goals.
The Penguins will be very good offensively and will likely push the New York Rangers for the Metropolitan Division crown.
The Hurricanes evenly split 4 games with the Penguins last season. The teams were only one shot apart over the 4 contests, and the Canes outscored the Pens 12-9.
Last but not least, the Carolina Hurricanes will close out this road trip in the State of Hockey against the Minnesota Wild.
The massive question mark is this team’s goaltending. Last season, three goalies got 19+ starts, but Devan Dubnyk held it down and played remarkable hockey for the Wild.
He posted a 27-9-2 record with a 1.78 goals against average and .936 save percentage in 39 appearances. That is ridiculously good, and goaltending like that alone will likely lift this team to playoff contention.
If Dubnyk can bring at least half of what he brought last season, the goaltending will be just fine.
The Wild took both games from the Canes last season and outscored Carolina 9-4.
This road trip will feature some important games, and if the Hurricanes are still in the playoff hunt in March, they will need to pick up some very important points in the standings.
Next: This Just Isn't Fair
Apr 11, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Red Wings goalie Howard (35) makes a save on a shot by Carolina Hurricanes center Staal (12) in the second period at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
#1: The Fair is in Town, but the Hurricanes Aren’t
WHEN: October 16 – October 29 (16th, 17th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, 27th, and 29th)
WHO: Detroit Red Wings, Washington Capitals, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Detroit Red Wings (Again), and New York Islanders
The N.C. State Fair will be in town in mid-to-late October, which means the Hurricanes will take their annual fair road trip.
The festivities will start in Hockey Town on the 16th. The Detroit Red Wings will look to continue their historic playoff streak this season, but it will have to be without long-time bench boss Mike Babcock.
Despite losing their staple behind the bench, the Wings will bring back the ever-so popular names Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Gustav Nyquist, and others.
The aging yet still very talented Red Wings will provide a tough challenge early in the season to the Hurricanes, who will likely be trying to determine what kind of team they will be at this time.
This will not be the only time the Canes will faceoff with the Wings on this road trip.
The Red Wings swept the Hurricanes 3 games to none last season and outscored the Canes 8-3.
Carolina Hurricanes /
Carolina Hurricanes
The next day, the Hurricanes will face off with the Capitals. The Caps will be a destination in the mid-March road trip as well, and it will be yet another tough game from start to finish.
After several days off, the Hurricanes will head across the country for the Western Conference portion of this early-season road trip to take on the Colorado Avalanche.
The goaltending also won’t be in question with Semyon Varlamov in between the pipes. Varlamov has risen as a star in net over the past couple seasons in Colorado.
The Avs and Canes split their 2-game series a year ago with both teams winning on home ice. The Avalanche mounted a big comeback in their win against Carolina. The two teams both scored 6 goals against each other in 2014-2015.
The Canes will then hit the coast and take on the 2014 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings.
The Kings missed the playoffs last year, and the Hurricanes own their first round draft pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. They acquired it in the Andrej Sekera trade. Sekera has since signed with the Edmonton Oilers.
Jonathan Quick is a Vezina-level goalie, and he will look to stay healthy and provide elite goaltending for the Kings this season.
Last season, the Hurricanes won a game and lost a game against the Kings. Both teams won on home ice, and the two teams both scored 5 goals against each other.
The Canes will stay in Cali for another day to then take on the San Jose Sharks at the SAS Center.
There’s plenty of question marks for San Jose this season, but the play of new goalie and former King Martin Jones will be the biggest one.
Jones played well in a limited role out in LA, but can he handle being a starting NHL goalie? That will be something that the Kings will find out, maybe the hard way, in the first few months of the season.
Another area of confusion is how the veteran players, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, will perform and if these guys will even be with the team by the trade deadline.
The Sharks missed the playoffs a year ago, and there isn’t much reason to believe they will push for a spot this year in a very tough Western Conference.
Last season, the Hurricanes split their 2 game series with the Sharks. The road team won both games, including San Jose’s shutout win in Raleigh with rookie goalie Troy Grosenick stopping 45 shots in his NHL debut. The next game he played, he allowed 3 goals on 13 shots and lost to the Buffalo Sabres.
The Canes will head back east following their date with the Sharks to take on the Red Wings once again on October 27th.
The 7-game road trip will finally come to an end in Brooklyn with a game against the New York Islanders in their new arena.
The Canes will make their Barclay’s Center debut on the 29th of October, and while the arena is new, the New York Islanders haven’t changed much from last season.
John Tavares finished 2nd in the league in points last season with 86, and if he had his linemate Kyle Okposo for the whole season, he likely would’ve won the scoring title. Okposo’s season was limited to 60 games due to injury.
The Isles had a breakout year from young forward Ryan Strome, and he will look to build on his impressive campaign this season. The club looks to also be set in goal with Jaroslav Halak manning the pipes. He bolstered a record of 38-17-4 last season.
The Canes lost 3 of 4 last season against the Isles, which is a testament to how tough the Islanders were to play. They will be the same way this year.
New York got eliminated in 7 games by the Capitals in the first round of the playoffs in 2015.
The Carolina Hurricanes are known for their slow starts, and the yearly fair trip is usually a big reason for them. The Hurricanes started 0-6-2 in October last season, and it set the tone for the rest of the season. The team has to start well and win some games on the road in order to actually contend next season.
This is by far the most important road trip of the season
