The Race for the Metro Division Continues for Hurricanes
By Glenn Brewer
The hunt for the Metro Division is a tight one but not as tight as the race for the Eastern Conference Wild Cards. The Carolina Hurricanes have four games this week.
It has officially become the time of year when scoreboard-watching is deemed acceptable.
The Canes will not have to look very far toward the end of the week when they make a visit to New Jersey to take on the Devils, who trail Carolina by two points as I write this article.
After today’s matinee against the Tampa Bay Lightning at PNC Arena, the Canes will have Monday off and then head up north to play the Montreal Canadians. Montreal currently sits second to last in the Eastern Conference.
The Devils will also be off to start the week as well and on Tuesday they will host the 84-point Toronto Maple Leafs.
Wednesday is another day off for both teams as they gear up for matches on Thursday.
The Canes will host the Metro Division rival, Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers have struggled this season and are third from the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
The Devils will head just south to our nation’s capital for a tilt against the Washington Capitals. The Capitals are trying to stay in the hunt for the Wild Card as they are currently outside looking in right now.
Both teams share another off day on Friday before starting a busy weekend.
Saturday, the Canes will be hosting the Las Vegas Golden Knights. The Knights just defeated Carolina in Vegas. The Devils will head up north to play Montreal.
All of this build up is for Sunday’s crucial matchup in New Jersey where the two teams will battle for the last time this regular season. It will be extremely important as a regulation win would have a huge swing in advantage for the stretch run.
The goaltending duo will be tested this week with so many games and Rod Brind’Amour will strategically set up the starts as the back-to-back approaches on Saturday.
With the rest of March left, this week could arguably determine the Metro Division with the teams playing identical days and finishing off the week against each other.