It’s almost the most wonderful time of the year. The Hurricanes have clinched a playoff berth for the fourth season in a row, and all eyes are now on the Stanley Cup playoffs. Carolina currently sits atop the Metropolitan Division with a record of 48-18-8 at the time of writing. According to moneypuck.com, they have an 81.5% chance of claiming first place in the division.
The current Eastern Conference standings at the time of writing are as follows:
Metro Division:
1. Hurricanes- 104 pts, 7 GR
2. Rangers- 104 pts, 6 GR
3. Penguins- 97 pts, 5 GR
4. Capitals- 92 pts, 8 GR (WC 2)
Atlantic Division:
1. Panthers- 112 pts, 8 GR
2. Maple Leafs- 102 pts, 8 GR
3. Lightning- 98 pts, 8 GR
4. Bruins- 97 pts, 7 GR (WC 1)
With the Canes playoff spot practically locked in as the first seed in the metro, the question now becomes, who will they be playing in the first round? There are no easy outs in the Eastern Conference, and whoever the Hurricanes play will be a challenge for this team. In this article, we are going to preview a couple of the potential opponents the Hurricanes could face in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
All of the playoff odds used in this article are courtesy of moneypuck.com
Tampa Bay Lightning
Season Series: 2-0-1
GF/G: 2.67
GA/G: 2.33
Remember when I said no easy outs? The back-to-back Stanley Cup champions currently have a 19.6% chance of finishing in the first wild card spot. The Hurricanes are of course very familiar with the Lightning, as Tampa Bay was the team to end the Canes’ 2020-21 season.
For the second year straight Tampa is going into the playoffs underestimated, if that’s even possible for the defending champs. Last year the Lightning finished lower in the standings than their divisional rivals, yet heated up when it mattered most and managed to make it out of the 2021 Central Division. Tampa of course faced Carolina in the second round of last year’s playoffs and dismantled them in just 5 games.
As for the regular-season series, the Hurricanes won the first contest in overtime all the way back in November off of a Martin Necas overtime winner. The second game, and only game taking place in Raleigh, took place in late March, the Hurricanes were able to withstand Tampa’s strong push to win 3-2.
In the most recent matchup on March 29th, the Canes were able to take a 1-goal lead three separate times, and they lost all of them. Tampa forced overtime late and was able to take it home just a minute into the overtime period. Tampa scored 3 powerplay goals is by far the Hurricanes’ weakest penalty kill performance of the season.
As we can see by the results of the season series, these teams are extremely close. However, we know this Tampa team can heat up as soon as the puck drops in game 1, and the Hurricanes do not want to try to contain their star-studded offense again.
The X-factor for Tampa will be 2021 Conn Smythe winner Andrei Vasilevskiy. Vasilevskiy hasn’t been quite himself this season but that does not matter, he is arguably the most important playoff performer in the league. Hurricanes fans everywhere will secretly be cheering for Tampa to keep their current place as 3rd in the Atlantic Division.
Boston Bruins
Season Series: 3-0-0
GF/G: 5.33
GA/G: 0.33
The Boston Bruins have been a boogeyman of sorts for the Hurricanes in the playoffs. Boston swept the Hurricanes in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals, and a year later vanquished the Canes in just 5 games in the first round of the 2020 bubble playoffs.
The regular-season series was a much, much different story. The series started in late October when Frederik Andersen was the story, posting his first shutout as a Cane in a 3-0 victory. The next two games in Boston can only be described as a slaughter.
In January the Canes went into TD Garden and put up 7 goals en route to a dominant 7-1 win. The team then went back a little less than a month later and put up 6, with Andersen getting yet another shutout to boot.
Safe to say Carolina has been able to slay the beast that has tortured them come playoff time, but could they finally exorcise their demons in the form of winning a playoff series? The Bruins currently have a 57.1% chance of finishing as the first wild card, and trail Tampa in the standings by just 1 point.
One of the narratives around the league is if Toronto, who famously has lost to the Bruins in three separate game 7s this decade, can finally beat the Bruins but my question is, why isn’t there the same story for the Hurricanes? The Hurricanes arguably have had even less playoff success against the Bruins, only winning 1 game in their last two playoff bouts.
Although it’s weird to say that we WANT to play Boston, it would certainly be a more ideal matchup than Tampa would. The Bruins are of course still a threat, but they are not the same team that eliminated the Hurricanes in recent years, the core is getting older and they no longer have the services of Tuuka Rask and David Krejci at their disposal.
The two other teams that the Hurricanes could play in the first round are the Washington Capitals (17.2% chance of finishing as WC1) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (4.9% chance of finishing as WC1). Both are rather unlikely, and it doesn’t look like the Hurricanes will be dropping to second place in the metro anytime soon.
So it comes down to two teams, the Bruins and the Lightning. Both are veteran teams with elite talent who have had playoff success against the Hurricanes recently, and the idea of playing either is slightly scary for a Canes team that hasn’t looked their best as of late.
Either way, it is an extremely exciting time for all hockey fans, and the Canes’ road to the Stanley Cup will most likely start by going through one of the teams that have recently defeated them.
Question for Cardiac Cane readers: Would you rather play Boston or Tampa in the first round?