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Carolina Hurricanes: 10 thoughts after first quarter of the season

By Andrew Miller

RALEIGH, NC - NOVEMBER 24: Derek Ryan #7 and Jeff Skinner #53 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrate Ryan's goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of an NHL game on November 24, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - NOVEMBER 24: Derek Ryan #7 and Jeff Skinner #53 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrate Ryan's goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of an NHL game on November 24, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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RALEIGH, NC – NOVEMBER 24: Derek Ryan #7 and Jeff Skinner #53 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrate Ryan’s goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of an NHL game on November 24, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – NOVEMBER 24: Derek Ryan #7 and Jeff Skinner #53 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrate Ryan’s goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of an NHL game on November 24, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

How are the Carolina Hurricanes doing 21 games into the season, with three quarters of the 2017-18 campaign still remaining?

The Carolina Hurricanes are coming off a mediocre start to the 2017-18 NHL season, where the team won nine of the first 20 games. For head coach Bill Peters, it is his best start since taking over the team a few years ago. Carolina officially started out the first quarter of the season with a 9-8-4 record, after a convincing 6-1 defeat at the hands of the New York Rangers.

In the 21st contest of the season, the Canes lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 24, with a heartbreaking 5-4 defeat. The last time the Canes faced the Leafs resulted in a 6-3 win on the road. Yet, the Leafs are still one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference with 15 wins.

Entering the season, the Canes were a favorite among fans and the media to be a dark horse coming out of the Metropolitan Division. The start to the season has been very up and down, with only the Philadelphia Flyers having less points than the Canes right now.

The New Jersey Devils, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New York Islanders have the three playoff spots out of the Metro. Columbus was expected to have another big year, but the Devils and Isles are big surprises at this point.

For the Canes to keep up any sort of momentum they’ve built over the past two weeks, the goaltending needs to be more consistent and the offensive production needs to stay where it’s been recently.

Here’s 10 thoughts for the Carolina Hurricanes through the first quarter of 2017-18.

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