When Rod Brind'Amour took over behind the bench in 2018, there was the hope of one day making it back to the postseason. Eight years later, making the postseason has become the expectation. The Carolina Hurricanes secured their eighth straight berth on Thursday against the Blue Jackets, which got me thinking. What is the best clinching game from the last eight years?
The Canes have been fortunate to be in this position for this long, sitting with the third-longest active streak, behind only Colorado and Tampa Bay's nine seasons. With it, the team has usually been very good at doing the job themselves and not relying on others to get into the postseason. Below is a ranking of the eight times since 2019.
I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the best pre-Brind'Amour clinch, which came in 2009. The team's nine-game win streak near the end of the season allowed them the opportunity to get back into the postseason for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006. Anton Babchuk helped get it done in dramatic fashion, scoring in overtime to secure their spot against the Penguins.
8. 2023
By my research, there has only been one instance under Rod Brind'Amour when the Hurricanes clinched solely because of someone else's work. On the night in question in 2023, the Canes lost to the New York Rangers, 2-1, to complete a home-and-home after beating them in New York. Adam Fox scored the winning goal for the Rangers.
However, the Canes made it into the playoffs that night with some help from the Toronto Maple Leafs. They beat the Panthers 6-2 to help the Canes slide into the postseason for the fifth straight season. I always prefer to see the Canes do the work themselves, but I'll take no issue with it in this regard. Of course, the Panthers got the last laugh in the Eastern Conference Finals.
7. 2020
If we want to get technical, the Hurricanes didn't actually clinch a playoff spot for the 2020 postseason. The world shutting down might have played a part in that. To their credit, the Canes were in a playoff spot when things went south, though the fight in the Metropolitan Division was tight. They were just two points ahead of their Qualifying Round opponent, the New York Rangers.
The lack of a true clinching game is what keeps this one so low because the game that I considered to be the "clinching game" was a 5-2 win in Detroit. The incredible start of Morgan Geekie continued with the opening goal, but things were tied at two against the worst team in the league. In the third, Sebastian Aho recorded three points, including a pair of goals, to help them pull away.
6. 2021
The following season was just as weird, with the entire league realigning to keep games regional. It meant playing the same seven teams eight times throughout the season. Eventually, you get to know each other very well. The Canes emerged at the top of the newly formed Central Division, but their clinching moment came in a loss.
Unlike in 2023, the loss was in extra time and required the Hurricanes to make a comeback in Dallas. The Canes trailed 2-0 after 20 before goals by Max McCormick and Jaccob Slavin tied it up. The Stars pulled ahead again, but deadline acquisition Jani Hakanpaa played pinball and found the tying goal with 4:14 left. The Canes lost in overtime, but the one point was enough for them to clinch.
5. 2022
From this point, all of the Canes' clinching games are wins. The thing that distinguishes this game, a 5-3 win over the Sabres, from the others ahead of it is a really bad fashion choice. The Canes went with their red sweaters and black pants for the contest, creating a really ugly combination for our eyes to behold. That's the lasting memory we'll have of that night.
The game itself wasn't very pretty either. The Sabres led 2-0 after 20 and 3-1 early in the second. It took multi-goal nights from Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal, who scored both of his goals in the third period, to get them over the line. Seth Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov also had multi-assist nights. It's the earliest postseason berth for the team under Brind'Amour, coming in their 71st game.
4. 2024
The only shutout on the list, the Canes really liked picking on the Red Wings this time of year. They did all of their damage during one period, beating the Red Wings, 4-0, to secure their sixth straight berth. It was a one-line affair, with the trio of Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, and Jake Guentzel showing us what they could've done for a long time if the team had forked over the right amount of money.
Former Hurricane James Reimer stood on his head to open the game, but one goal seemed to open the floodgates. The top trio combined for the first two goals, scored by Aho and Jarvis. Martin Necas added another, with Evgeny Kuznetsov providing a helper. Brady Skjei scored the fourth goal, with Aho and Jarvis picking up assists. Frederik Andersen made 24 stops to record the shutout.
3. 2026
Maybe it's recency bias, but last Thursday's victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets was about as good as it gets. The Canes thoroughly decimated their visitors, who are currently fighting for their playoff lives. They only allowed ten shots in the game, tying the franchise record for the fewest shots against, and it ended with them setting a new franchise mark for the longest postseason streak.
The Stankoven line set the tone, with the center scoring twice in the first nine minutes to get the team rolling. Alexander Nikishin scored his first short-handed goal. Even when Columbus tried to build momentum by cutting the deficit to two, the Canes responded 17 seconds later. They went on to win the game 5-1, cementing this as one of the most dominant clinching games in team history.
2. 2025
In the same vein as this season's clincher, last year's was just as dominant, but with a little MMA flair. The Hurricanes and the Capitals were the two best teams in the division a season ago. Needing a win over the eventual division champs to get into the playoffs, the Canes went nuts. They scored three times in just over seven minutes in the first period, including Seth Jarvis's 30th goal of the season.
Even Washington's only goal from Alex Ovechkin was monumental, inching him closer to the record. Things devolved in the third period, with two fights and eight game misconducts resulting in 122 penalty minutes between the teams. The Canes won, 5-1, behind a two-goal night from Jackson Blake, and it set the tone for the five-game series we'd see in the second round.
1. 2019
If I'm being completely honest, there's a sizable gap between this clinching game and every other one on this list. The sense of relief that must've been felt inside that arena and throughout Caniac Nation had to be seismic. The game itself was pretty good, too. The only negative might have been New Jersey scoring the opening goal early in the game.
Otherwise, it was pretty much all Carolina. Warren Foegele and Justin Faulk provided the tying and go-ahead goals before Nino Niederreiter added the dagger late in the third. The fans in the stands knew before the players did, but the celebration on the ice when they realized, and Petr Mrazek's bench interview with Mike Maniscalco are forever planted in our memories. It was a long time coming.