The Carolina Hurricanes swept the New York Islanders, in a close fought, goalie dominated series, as they’ve made their way to the ECF for the first time since 2009.
That’s right, you read that correctly. The Carolina Hurricanes are going to the Eastern Conference Final. You can read that sentence how ever many times you want. Hockey in May for the Carolina Hurricanes, and I promise you aren’t dreaming. What. A. Time.
The Carolina Hurricanes have showed they’ve had no rust, when it comes to playoff competition, as they knocked off the defending champs in round one, and then swept the Islanders, where Barry Trotz and Robin Lehner, are both up for awards in their respective fields.
In a series where next man up seemed almost inevitable, the ‘Canes swept the Islanders they showed just how good their defense is, and how reliable the goalie tandem of Petr Mrazek, and Curtis McElhinney can be.
Carolina’s goaltenders came to play and kept the Islanders to 1.25 goals a game, while stopping their shots at a high clip, posting a .957 save percentage. This doesn’t take in the amazing play of the ‘Canes D-Corps as they had an amazing series as well.
Jaccob Slavin even made national headlines time and time again during the series as he was an excellent defender, with amazing poke checking and shut down defense. He also has led the ‘Canes in points and assists throughout the playoffs with 11, which caught a lot of attention from the media. Although we’ve known for awhile Slavin is an elite defender, it’s good to see him finally get recognized.
Teuvo Teravainen also had a terrific series, as he was getting points at will, with 3 goals and 2 assists, to really push Carolina’s offense over the edge, against a great goaltender like Robin Lehner.
The goal that kickstarted the period! pic.twitter.com/3S1ZyGcWQo
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) May 4, 2019
Among the success however Carolina remained a dud on the powerplay as they ended the series with an underwhelming 1/14, which is slightly higher than just 7%, with a man up. Obviously this is something that’ll need to change with the teams we could be facing.
With that let’s take a look at our possible competitors, and size up the competition.