The Carolina Hurricanes start their most important stretch of Hockey starting tomorrow and it will be a doozy of a race to the finish line.
The Carolina Hurricanes have 18 games left on the season and will have only 30 days to play them all. This will be the most critical and most crucial point of their season. Starting tomorrow there will only be a whopping total of 12 days where the team doesn’t play a game and only once will any of those days come back to back, the first two days of April.
That leaves 10 days of back to back nights. None of them are home and home. Meaning the team will have to travel after the first game every single time. Eight home games and ten away games. only a single true home stand of three or more home games in a row. If that sounds like playoff hockey it’s because it is.
That can be a good thing or it can be a bad thing. This team can take this month and extra week and roll into the playoffs with the tenacity and intensity to win every game because they have to or they can limp into the playoffs tired and depleted. Worse case scenario is that this team just can’t match up with the upcoming opponents and lose their playoff chances completely.
With Rod Brind’amour at the helm and Justin Williams back in the mix, don’t count on that final possibility. The increase in games will be nothing more than an adjustment to playoff play that most teams will take a series to adjust to. Carolina will be in peak playoff mode come April.
Add on the fact that because of this weird compression in the season the Canes now have the most games left of any other team. Meaning they have games in hand on everyone. Here is what Rod had to say about that:
Rod Brind’Amour on the fact that the Hurricanes have the most games left of any team: “Perfect...it’s in our hands”
— Sara Civ (@SaraCivian) March 4, 2020
We have the league right where we want them. Going into tomorrow’s game the Hurricanes will only be three points out of a playoff spot with at least a game in hand on the next team up. They will have four games in hand against the Blue Jackets, who might be the team to usurp of a playoff spot.
That brings me to the reason why this stretch of hockey is so critical. of the 18 games left on the schedule 10 are against Metro teams. Of the remaining eight, only a single game is from outside the conference. That game is at home against the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
That gives the Carolina Hurricanes opportunity. The combination of games in hand, games against Metro opponents, and the fact that many of the Metro teams also have to face each other multiple times means that the Carolina Hurricanes not only control their destiny for a playoff spot, but they control their destiny all the way up to third place in the division.
Crazy right? Not when you consider that they have yet to face the third place Pittsburgh Penguins this season. All four games will be played this month in a span of exactly three weeks. The Hurricanes are only seven points behind them with a game in hand.
Add on the fact that the Pens have beaten only a single playoff team (Maple Leafs) in the last thirty days and you can see why the Canes can easily course correct and move up.
What about the other six games against Metro Opponents? They are broken down into two matchups each for the Devils and Islanders and a single game against both the Blue Jackets and Flyers. Outside of the Devils, a win against each of these teams is critical in playoff placement. All together those are eight different “4 point” games.
Luckily the Carolina Hurricanes will get a slew of games against easier opponents where they can rack up more than a few points on their way to the playoffs. Other than the two games against the Devils there are also a pair of games against the Sabres and a game against both the Senators and the Red Wings.
These six games are games they are expected to win, and failure to do so can result in playoff hopes getting squashed. These games are the expected confidence springboard against teams like Boston (x2), St. Louis, and Philadelphia, the three toughest opponents in the upcoming stretch.
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Even if the Hurricanes break even against the remaining playoff teams in the schedule, the twelve points available to earn against those easier teams go a long way and would have the looking at adding a total of 24 points before the end of the season, finishing their total at 99 points, matching the their total from last year that saw them earn the first wildcard.
But there are so many scenarios that can play out. With injuries to the goaltending and defense that can play a factor depending on how fast they can return, the Carolina Hurricanes need to tread water and play well enough until guys like Petr Mrazek (7-10 days) and Sami Vatanen (day to day, traveling with the team) can return.
The one thing that definitely needs to happen at least once this month is something that has not happened since mid November. The Carolina Hurricanes are going to need to string together more than three wins in a row. It is going to have to establish a pattern of winning and start becoming consistent again as the roster gets healthier.
It is not going to be an easy run to the finish line, but should they do enough to get into the playoffs come the second week of April, this team will be in position for another deep run.
Question for CC Readers: How many points can the Hurricanes get before season’s end?