Carolina Hurricanes: Daring to dream as they enter the Garden

Tonight sees the Carolina Hurricanes face their Metro Division rivals the New York Rangers in a key game in the Canes’ playoff battle. A win in Madison Square Garden will close the gap even further with the wildcard spots, while a loss will ruin all that good form of recent weeks. Can Canes fans dare to dream?

The last time the Carolina Hurricanes won a road game against the New York Rangers, Wikileaks had just leaked the Iraq War documents and Bruno Mars was riding high in the music charts. Our Canes had made the playoffs the previous season, and won a 4-3 game with two goals from rookie Jeff Skinner, and a goal each from Tuomo Ruutu and Erik Cole. Ruutu added two assists and that man Anton Babchuk added one too, while Cam Ward stopped 40/43 shots for the win. That’s how long ago it was that the Canes last won in Madison Square Garden.

Through those dark years since, Canes fans have had precious few moments to cherish. Now though, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The Carolina Hurricanes have won seven of their last eight games and are one of the hottest teams in the league as their offense, led by Sebastian Aho, continues to fire after a couple of months where fans were left wondering where the goals would come from. It is good to be a Carolina Hurricanes fan right now.

As we head into tonight’s big game, the Carolina Hurricanes sit just five points out of a wildcard spot, and have two games in hand on Montreal who sit six points ahead of the Canes. A win tonight closes that gap even further, and brings the team just one point behind the Buffalo Sabres, who a fortnight ago were being touted as a playoff team.

We expect Curtis McElhinney to get the start tonight, as he and Petr Mrazek continue to share the net. It’s about time Curtis received more than a 50/50 share of the net in my book, as his numbers remain consistently better than Mrazek’s, and he definitely earned the starter’s role before being sidelined by injury.

There remains no word on Jordan Staal‘s return to the team; fans of the Canes would love to see Victor Rask benched on Staal’s return, but that may not be any time soon. As it is, there a question mark over whether bringing Staal back in is even worth upsetting the team dynamic:

Regardless, the Carolina Hurricanes have a job to do tonight. If they continue to do those things they’ve been doing well over the recent stretch, then they should come away with two points. We continue to watch out for Andrei Svechnikov, who has gone stone cold over his last 12 games with just one goal, no assists, and declining ice time. If he can keep the penalties to a minimum, continue to hit with force like he has been, and get a scrappy goal off a lucky bounce, then that could spark him back into life. Where better to have a big game than the most iconic hockey venue of all time?

We are convinced that Curtis McElhinney will thrive on playing in the Garden, and that the memory of the team’s massive 8-5 win over the Rangers in early October will serve to propel the Carolina Hurricanes to victory. We will see more Aho scoring, more Micheal Ferland grit, and two more points for the Canes.

Prediction: Hurricanes 4-1 Rangers