Carolina Hurricanes Continue Canadian Swing Against the Jets

The Carolina Hurricanes are looking to bounce back from a lackluster loss to the Flames when they visit the Winnipeg Jets tonight.

We’ll just start out by saying that the Hurricanes did not look good in their first start after the All Star break. Although they started the game fine, by the second period it definitely looked like the rust had settled in hard over the days off. The Calgary Flames turned up the heat, behind Sean Monahan and his 1 goal, 3 assist night, to hand the Canes a 4-1 loss on Wednesday night. Oh, and the Carolina special teams never woke up, going 0-5 on the power play, and allowing two goals on four penalty kills.

They are playing a team, coached by former Hurricanes boss Paul Maurice, and captained by former Cane Andrew Ladd, that has struggled this year, and sits well out of contention for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. We’ll see if Coach Peters can get the “compete level” turned up again before the puck drops tonight. These are games that the Hurricanes need to win.

More from Cardiac Cane – Faulk reflects on his All Star weekend

Game Information

Carolina Hurricanes at Winnipeg Jets
Friday, February 5, 8:00 pm
MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Fox Sports Carolinas – 99.9 FM The Fan

Season Records

Carolina Hurricanes – 23-20-8 – 54 points – 6th in Metro – 10th in Eastern – 3 pts out of Wild Card

Winnipeg Jets – 21-24-3 – 45 points – 7th in Pacific – 13th in Western – 9 pts out of Wild Card

Team Records – Last 10-20-30 Games with Points %

Carolina Hurricanes – 6-3-1 (65%) – 11-6-3 (63%) – 15-11-4 (57%)

Winnipeg Jets – 3-6-1 (35%) – 8-11-1 (43%) – 13-16-1 (45%)

Team/Game Notes

The Jets are coming off a 5-3 loss Tuesday night against the Dallas Stars. Both the coaching staff and players bemoaned their missed chances during the game after going up 2-1 early, only to see the Stars roar back for the victory

More from Cardiac Cane

Talk in the hockey media and online about the Winnipeg Jets lately has largely revolved around the contract negotiations and/or trade rumors swirling around defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and Captain Andrew Ladd. The latest rumors came yesterday from Pierre LeBrun of TSN when he speculated that Byfuglien is looking at Los Angeles, and Ladd is being eyed by the Panthers.

The Jets don’t have any new injuries on their roster, with Grant Clitsome (D) still sidelined, and Ondrej Pavelec (G) nursing a knee injury from late November.

The Caniac faithful are hoping that the Calgary game was a one-off lackluster performance in an otherwise strong and productive month leading up to the break. The Canes are still solidly in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt, only three points back of the final wild card spot, and four points from having a guaranteed spot in the post-season.

The Hurricanes will again miss Brett Pesce, who did not travel with the team, with a lower body injury. Ryan Murphy remains in the lineup as his replacement. Eddie Lack should get the start again tonight, but Cam Ward is back and healthy if Coach Peters wants to switch it up.

Next: Checkin' in With the Checkers - All Star Edition

Coming off a week’s rest, it was disappointing to see the Hurricanes lacking a step against a Calgary team that they should have beaten. The game tonight is, again, one of those remaining games on the schedule that they need to win if they want to make the playoffs. Let’s see if Coach Peters has worked the guys hard enough on the day off, and they play like the team we’ve been watching and cheering for over the last couple of months.

Go Canes!