Carolina Hurricanes: Face Sabres in crucial road game

The Carolina Hurricanes’ road trip continues in Buffalo tonight, where Jeff Skinner and the Sabres are awaiting to play a game that might decide which team remains relevant in the playoff hunt and which teams become sellers before the trade deadline.

If the Carolina Hurricanes want to save their season and get back into the playoffs they need to win tonight’s game. The Buffalo Sabres, tied for the same number of points with a game in hand over Carolina, feel the same way about tonight’s game. After all, there is a chance tonight’s winner will be only a single point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.

After the beating the Carolina Hurricanes gave the Pittsburgh Penguins two days ago, the Sabres will not be sleeping on the Hurricanes. The Sabres’ 4-3 loss to the Canes last month will still be fresh in their minds. But will that be enough to stop the Carolina Hurricanes, who have scored at least three goals in their last four games and out-scored their opponents at a whopping 27-13 over their last six?

The answer is no. This is a tale of two teams heading in different directions since the new year. While the Carolina Hurricanes have found a new surge in the second half of the season climbing back into the playoff discussion, the Sabres have experienced a fall from grace. They are 5-7-0 in the new year. They have only three wins in their last nine games, a period of play that has seen them get outscored 38-27. Jeff Skinner has cooled off immensely, scoring only 5 goals in 2019 so far, and only scored once since his visit to Raleigh.

To top all of that off, it will be Linus Ullmark who will start in net. While his numbers aren’t discouraging for Buffalo, 11 wins in 22 games with a 0.914 sv %, he still has a GAA of 2.93. This is also his first start against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Buffalo is trying to break their Carolina Curse, which has the Hurricanes enjoying a seven game win streak against them. The last game saw that curse in full glory, as Carolina seemed to score from any angle and from any place on the ice.

It will be hard to figure out who will be the starter in net for the Carolina Hurricanes tonight. There are arguments to start either of them. I would go with Curtis McElhinney for a few reasons. He was an absolute goalie god against a very difficult and healthy Penguins team and shut them out on Wednesday night. He deserves another go at it tonight to see if he can stretch out that magic for another 60 minutes.

This is also the first of a back-to-back for the Canes, with the Rangers waiting for us in Madison Square Garden tomorrow. Whoever starts today will get to sit on the bench tomorrow. McElhinney’s last start against the Rangers was not inspiring. The MSG curse continued through that game. I would prefer to give Petr Mrazek the chance to finally break the curse and maybe push us into a playoff spot if all goes well today.

This will be a hard fought battle. I give Carolina the edge, so long as they play with the tenacity they played with the other night in Pittsburgh. This team needs to continue stringing wins and points together in order to get back into playoffs after almost a decade of missing it. They know it, we know it, the Sabres know it. be ready for some really good hockey.

Prediction:

Here is a fun note: the Hurricanes will wear their home reds tonight on the road. They will also wear them tomorrow in the Garden against the Rangers as well as Sunday against the Devils at the Rock. This will be the sixth added road game reds match up (from the original scheduled games at the beginning of the season) as Tom Dundon attempts to bury the whites into the history books. The Rangers actually requested to wear their whites as they are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their last Cup win.

Question for CC Readers:

Would you trade back for Jeff Skinner if the Sabres were found to be sellers at the deadline? If so what would you offer?