To call March a good month might be an understatement. The Carolina Hurricanes went from being the talk of the trade deadline to being one of the hottest teams in the league in a matter of days. The Canes turned in an 11-3-0 record during the final full month of the regular season, sparked by their second eight-game winning streak of the campaign.
This was far from an easy month for the group. The Canes faced several top-tier teams and outplayed many of them. There were a few stinkers, like their lopsided loss in Los Angeles during the California trip and the 3-1 loss to the Predators on home ice. Even their win over the Bruins was a tad lucky. Otherwise, it was smooth sailing as the team strengthened its grip on second place in the division.
Have the road warriors returned?
There was a time this season when it felt like the Hurricanes might never win another road game. From mid-November to the end of February, the Canes were 5-12-3 away from Raleigh, posting the fourth-worst road record during that span. They'd lost all four road games in February, scoring four total goals and being shut out by Winnipeg and Montreal.
In March, the Canes re-found their road mojo. While they only played five of their 14 games away from the Lenovo Center, the Canes won four of them. This includes a one-sided 5-0 victory over the Flyers and two wins during their California journey. The lone loss was to the Kings, and they lost big to the league's best home team.
Their schedule in April is road-heavy, but the importance of the team regaining its groove away from home will only be amplified once the playoffs begin. Historically, the Canes haven't been a good road team in the playoffs. They only won twice away from home last postseason. If the Canes have any hopes of advancing far, they'll need to win a few games in hostile territory.
The new guys have jumped right in
The Mikko Rantanen story took up a lot of time during the early part of March. Once the deadline passed and the team was set, the product on the ice could return to the forefront. Immediately, it was clear the Canes came out of the deadline just fine. Mark Jankowski scored twice, and Logan Stankoven scored on the power play in their team debuts against the Jets, and the rest was history.
Jankowski might've been the biggest steal of the deadline league-wide. Since being traded, he has seven goals in ten games, including a pair of two-goal efforts. Stankoven has five points in ten games and has found a good spot next to Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook. As the centerpiece of the Rantanen deal, he's been a fun guy to watch and has become an easy fan favorite.
Taylor Hall, who was acquired during the earlier trade to bring Rantanen to Raleigh, has also turned it up since the deadline. After an inauspicious start through 12 games with the Hurricanes, Hall has 12 points in 11 games, including a hat trick in the team's victory over the Ducks. He's entering April on a four-game point streak.
April Preview
There are nine games remaining in the regular season for the Hurricanes, including three sets of back-to-backs. The team will play just three of those games at the Lenovo Center. After hosting the Capitals on Wednesday, the Canes will begin a four-game road trip. Their final two home games are back-to-back games against the Rangers and the Leafs before concluding the season in Canada.
The games against the Capitals are probably the two biggest on paper, but they, ironically, might be the most meaningless in the grand scheme of the season. The Capitals are going to win the division as they aim for the President's Trophy. I'm more interested in the games against teams on the line, namely the Rangers at home on the 12th and the Canadiens in Montreal on the 16th.
It's no longer a matter of whether the Hurricanes will make the playoffs or not. The only things left to decide are who the Hurricanes will face in the first round and whether they'll be at home to start it. All signs point to the Devils being in Raleigh for Game 1 in a few weeks, but that remains to be seen. It's not time for the team to take their foot off the gas. Momentum into the playoffs will be crucial.