Carolina Hurricanes: Finish Home-stand with a Win over Montreal

The Carolina Hurricanes have defied the odds yet again. In a game they would have lost last year, our favorite jerks come back from behind to finish the home stand with a bang.

Last Night was an incredible exclamation point of a game that pretty much summarizes this entire Carolina Hurricanes season. Almost every aspect of the season was on display for the 14,400 fans in attendance that night. The game played out almost identical to the season; with a strong, yet ultimately disappointing first, a weak second that finished with some optimism, and a strong dominant finish in the third and overtime to seal the win.

The Carolina Hurricanes faced off against one of the best and currently hottest goaltenders in the league in the form of Carey Price. Had the game ended in a quiet one goal loss, there would not be much to talk about. After all the 31 year old veteran netminder was riding a three game win streak and hasn’t allowed more than two goals in a game in five of his last six starts. He looked dominant for most of the game and almost destined for a shutout.

Equal props should be given to the netminder on the other end of the ice as well. While Curtis McElhinney did not see the same amount of shots as Carey Price did, he managed to keep this game well within the grasp of the Carolina Hurricanes. While the early goal by Paul Byron almost seemed enough to keep the fans from clapping into the night. It was McElhinney who gave the team enough time to crack Price’s seemingly penetrable wall earning him first star that night.

And crack it they did. Both the tying goal and the overtime winner were part of the last four shots of the game. For those four shots, Carey Price was not otherworldly. With those four shots, the Carolina Hurricanes reigned back in a huge crowd that had not much to celebrate before that. With those four shots, the Carolina Hurricanes showed the league that they are a dangerous team that should not be slept on.

While it is easy to simply take the win and run with it, the next two games will be critical ones against the division leaders, the Washington Capitals. Here are the three takeaways from this game that should have either lessons learned, or perhaps something to keep an eye out as the Carolina Hurricane’s regular season comes to a close. While this team is looking more and more likely to finish in playoff spot, there is always room to look further up the stands.