When you hear a Hurricanes fan mention the "dark days", they're referring to the nine-season stretch from 2009-10 to 2017-18 when the Carolina Hurricanes failed to make the postseason. Those were some rough seasons for those who remember. There was little enthusiasm for the product being put on the ice in Raleigh, and the fans weren't flocking to see them play.
The 2010-11 Hurricanes' season came down to the final game of the campaign. Game #82 was set for April 9, 2011, at the RBC Center against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts had little to play for at this point, having already clinched a playoff spot and second in the Southeast. Regardless, they dressed most of their starters for their season finale.
That same night, in New York City, the New York Rangers were playing their final game of the regular season against the New Jersey Devils. The Canes and the Rangers were fighting for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference, sitting deadlocked at 91 points. The objective was simple. A regulation win would put the Canes in the playoffs. Anything else required some help.
We talk a lot about tiebreakers in the NHL, especially at the end of the season. As it's currently constructed, the first tiebreaker for playoff positioning is regulation wins. The more games you win in regulation, the better. However, it wasn't always that way. Wins of any kind were the original tiebreaker, ignoring the method with which they were achieved. This changed ahead of the 2010-11 season.
This was the first season that regulation and overtime wins (ROW) were the deciding factor, ignoring wins ending in the shootout. Heading into the final game, the Canes owned a 35-34 edge in ROW, but the Rangers had more regulation wins (31-29) and total wins (43-40). That's why these 60 minutes against Tampa would be their most important, though a little help from the Devils would've been nice.
On this night, no help came. Tampa Bay jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, and they never let it go. The Canes cut their deficit to 4-2 midway through the third, but two empty-net goals finished them in a 6-2 loss. Up north, the Rangers got it done. Despite trailing 2-1 after 20, New York scored three times in the second period and rolled to a 5-2 win, securing the final spot in the playoffs.
The organization wasn't far removed from the sting of their 2008 choke job, nor was the feeling of advancing to the conference finals that far in the past. It probably didn't sting as much as their 2008 collapse, but it was still a massive disappointment. So, let's rewrite history a little bit. Let's say that the Lightning rested some starters and the Canes beat them at home. What happens then?
It probably would've been a quick postseason trip for the Hurricanes
As the #8 seed in the East, the Hurricanes would've contended with their Southeast Division rivals in the conference quarterfinals. The Washington Capitals had come a long way since barely skating into the playoffs in 2008. They won the East in 2011, finishing with 107 points, their third straight season over 100, and their fourth straight division crown.
Alex Ovechkin only had 32 goals and 85 points during the regular season. Really, it was the young trio of goalies that carried them throughout the year. Michal Neuvirth, Semyon Varlamov, and Braden Holtby, none of whom were older than 22 years old, backstopped the Capitals to the fourth-fewest goals allowed. They were tough to score against.
The Hurricanes could attest to that. The Capitals went 5-0-1 against the Canes, with their lone blemish being a shootout loss in the final meeting. All three goalies faced Carolina at some point during the season. Neuvirth pitched a shutout in his only appearance, Holtby stopped 40 of 41 in his one chance, and Varlamov went 3-0-1 and allowed just eight goals.
Now, it's not as if the Canes were being blown out during these losses. Five of the six games were decided by one goal. However, considering Neuvirth was the Capitals' starter for the postseason, I don't have much confidence in the Canes' chances of beating them in this series. The Rangers fell in five games, and the Canes likely would've faced a similar demise.
Washington didn't last much longer in the playoffs, either. They were swept in the conference semifinals by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Then, Tampa fell short in a seven-game set with the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bruins went on to beat the Vancouver Canucks in a seven-game classic to win the Stanley Cup. Canucks fans took that loss very well.
Even if the Canes bow out quickly in the postseason, it's interesting to think how differently we would've looked at the team's dark days. Granted, a seven-season postseason drought isn't much more appetizing than what we got. They couldn't get back to the big dance in 2011, and it would be a long time before the postseason returned to Raleigh.
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