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Carolina Hurricanes: Three keys to beating the Devils

By Omar Abdelgawad

RALEIGH, NC - NOVEMBER 18: Carolina Hurricanes Center Lucas Wallmark (71) shoots the puck between New Jersey Devils Defenceman Ben Lovejoy (12) and New Jersey Devils Center Travis Zajac (19) during a game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC on November 18, 2018. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - NOVEMBER 18: Carolina Hurricanes Center Lucas Wallmark (71) shoots the puck between New Jersey Devils Defenceman Ben Lovejoy (12) and New Jersey Devils Center Travis Zajac (19) during a game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC on November 18, 2018. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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RALEIGH, NC – NOVEMBER 18: Carolina Hurricanes Center Lucas Wallmark (71) shoots the puck between New Jersey Devils Defenceman Ben Lovejoy (12) and New Jersey Devils Center Travis Zajac (19) during a game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC on November 18, 2018. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – NOVEMBER 18: Carolina Hurricanes Center Lucas Wallmark (71) shoots the puck between New Jersey Devils Defenceman Ben Lovejoy (12) and New Jersey Devils Center Travis Zajac (19) during a game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC on November 18, 2018. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The Carolina Hurricanes have had a devil of a time beating New Jersey this year only defeating them once in their three games. With a chance to clinch a postseason spot, tonight’s game is HUGE.

The final home game of the season. And there is still hope. I honestly do not know what to do with myself. I did not think this team would get this far. Well at least not back around Christmas when the team allowed itself to dip two games below 0.500 for the first time in two years. But my, how far we have come.

The game that send us that far down the rabbit hole was against these same New Jersey Devils who managed to shut us out at the Rock. While if you ask Justin Williams, he would tell you that that game should have instead gone into overtime, they managed to befuddle our offense for most of the game.

That however was a Carolina Hurricanes team without Nino Niederreiter, Greg McKegg, or Jordan Staal. It was also a team that was simply looking for direction. Tonight’s team is a different team altogether when it comes to mentality and focus.

Tonight’s Carolina Hurricanes are a team that has more chemistry than an episode of Breaking Bad. This is a team that has been united and focused on a single goal: to break the cycle of mediocrity in Carolina Hockey and return to the post-season. And for the first time in a long time, lead by Justin Williams, this is a Carolina Hurricanes team that can accomplish that task:

While, yes, it would require some outside help from the Washington Capitals, tonight’s game is a must win for this team to celebrate with their fans on home ice, the long awaited achievement of returning to the post-season. To do that, here are the three keys to, at the very least, set themselves up for a possible “win & in” scenario against the Flyers on Saturday.

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