Hurricanes play final game before ASG against San Jose

When the San Jose Sharks come to PNC Arena today, they will be the Hurricanes’ final opponent before the All-Star game out in Las Vegas. Carolina’s final opponent is the San Jose Sharks who have already beaten the Canes when the team took its tour of California earlier in the year, handing the Canes one of their two overtime losses on the year. Carolina is presented now with a chance for revenge.

In the last game between these two, San Jose made an effort to get into shooting lanes and limit the Canes shot totals. Carolina is known to live and breathe with shots on goal. Getting the puck to the net is a philosophy that the Canes have taught for many years now. San Jose was able to limit what the Canes could do offensively with getting the puck through, and it was like severing a vein. Stuff went bad for the Canes, really fast.

They were still able to produce in that game, getting a single goal to force overtime, but they couldn’t play at the same level they have been able to against other teams. Cutting down the Canes’ shooting lanes makes their attack very toothless, and the Sharks did a great job of that when they were in California. Now, the Sharks come across the continent to Raleigh, and it’s a different kettle of fish.

No, that was a funny pun. I’m not going to apologize for it. I’m a person of culture, enjoy my sense of humor. Now, hockey… how do the Canes win this game? Simply put, just put goals on the board. The strength of this Sharks team is their attack, so while the defense could be very important to keep it quiet, you’re going to need to score anyway, so why not fill your hat and even in the event of a high-scoring game, be prepared?