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Carolina Hurricanes Game Day Thoughts In A New York Minute

By Matthew Barlowe|
Dec 3, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Carolina Hurricanes left wing Jeff Skinner (53) and New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal (18) battle for the puck during the third period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Carolina Hurricanes left wing Jeff Skinner (53) and New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal (18) battle for the puck during the third period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Carolina Hurricanes return home from their west coast swing to take on the New York Rangers

It’s that time of year again.  The weather starts to warm.  Flowers start to bloom. The Carolina Hurricanes practically if not mathematically eliminated from the NHL playoffs.  Yeah, that makes eight years in a row now.  With what is almost a guaranteed playoff berth by the Edmonton Oilers, that leaves the Hurricanes as the holder of the longest streak without a playoff appearance.

Related Story: Hurricanes Call Up Valentin Zykov

Another streak that might be extended is the Hurricanes losing streak since the Rangers are visiting the PNC arena tonight.  The Rangers boast a 43-22-2 good for fourth in the Metropolitan Division.  They are currently on a two-game win streak and 6-3-1 in their last ten.  For comparison, the Hurricanes are 2-5-3 with three losses to the two worst teams in the NHL.

Thoughts and Random Musings

  • The Carolina Hurricanes called up Valentin Zykov yesterday.  Given the injury status of Phil Di Giuseppe and Brock McGinn, the 22-year-old Russian winger could dress for the game tonight.  Maybe he puts on an offensive show and gives hope for the Canes offensive woes. Given the team’s luck, Zykov shows up and does nothing while taking a senseless penalty that leads to the game winning goal.  Still will be interesting to watch and see how the kid does.
  • On Tuesday, the Rangers beat the Florida Panthers to give Henrik Lundqvist his 30th win of the season.  This makes Lundqvist the very first goaltender to win 30 games in eleven of his first twelve seasons.  Lundqvist had a rocky start to the season but seems to be rounding into form with a .923 SV% in his last ten games.

    • Man goalie wins are stupid.  Let’s give one guy credit for how the whole team actually performed.  The only people who take them seriously are goalies who couldn’t post any other good stats *cough* Martin Brodeur *cough*.

  • Last night also saw the return of enforcer Tanner Glass to the score sheet. Glass scored a goal and grabbed an assist making him a point per game player!  He’s only played two games but so what, his grit will show the world they were wrong to doubt him.

    • Some people will

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    look at last night’s performance and say Alain Vigneault made the right choice to bring Glass back from the minors.  We have a word those people: idiots.  Hopefully, the Rangers scratch him before the game tonight because the Canes need losses more than wins right now.

    With a loss tonight the Carolina Hurricanes will drop to 26-28-10.  Right now they sit fifth worst in the league but with a couple games in hand.

    While the utter incompetence of Colorado may be a hard act to catch, moving into the “top 3” is definitely attainable.  With the way, the NHL is set up these days if a team isn’t making the playoffs or they aren’t tanking they might as well be dead.  Running Cam Ward out for the rest of the season should be all they have to do to achieve this goal.

    Next: Defense Wins Championships, Offense Wins Games

    Yeah, this game may be a rough one to watch.  Still, it will be an excellent chance to hopefully get a full game scouting Valentin Zykov in the NHL.  That’s the main thing I’ll be keeping an eye against the Rangers tonight.  A good performance will be a good sign for other Hurricanes’ prospects in the system as Zykov is one of the lower ranked forwards.

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