The Carolina Hurricanes face a critical stretch of their 2017-18 regular season schedule, one that will likely decide whether or not the team accomplishes its preseason goal of ending an eight-year playoff drought.
Coming out of the NHL’s All-Star break, the Canes currently sit four points out of the Eastern Conference’s second wild card spot, with two additional teams to jump. With 33 games left to play, that’s certainly not an easy climb, but it’s not impossible either. And the upcoming schedule makes it very doable.
The Hurricanes’ next eight games are at home, as the team will not play outside of PNC Arena until Feb. 15. While the Canes have just one win in their last four home games, the team is 10-7-4 in its own building this season. In order to jump the teams in front of it, Carolina will need to use this favorable stretch to its advantage.
Of the eight games on the stand, only three opponents currently sit in a playoff position in their respective conferences, and three have fewer points in the standings than the Hurricanes. The team needs to take advantage of this key chance to pick up points in the standings. Carolina needs to go at least 5-3, and likely 6-2 or better, to give itself a favorable chance to make the playoffs. One of the games is against the Philadelphia Flyers in what is sure to be a key matchup against the team that currently holds the coveted wild card spot.
In order to take advantage of this stretch, the Canes will need to improve a few facets of their game. The team will need more scoring across the board. The Canes recently got good news on that front, as forward and leading scorer Sebastian Aho progressed in his recovery from a combined concussion and lower body injury to skating before the All-Star break, and will likely return at some point during the homestand.
Carolina will need Aho, along with forwards Teuvo Teravainen, Jeff Skinner, Jordan Staal, Victor Rask and Elias Lindholm to lead the offensive charge in the PNC-heavy run.
Special teams wise, the Canes’ power play has been much improved of late, but the penalty kill has been poor, as Carolina has surrendered seven opposing power-play goals in its last nine games, and the team will need to improve down a man.
But, most of all, the Canes will need consistent goaltending. Cam Ward has been good in stretches this year, but Scott Darling, brought in over the summer to be the team’s new starting goalie and fix years of poor goaltending, has been a major disappointment. With two back-to-backs on the homestand (and four in total during the month of February), the Canes will need both goalies to be reliable.
This crucial stretch predates an even more important spot on the 2017-18 calendar. Carolina has 13 games remaining (11 at home) before Monday, Feb. 26, which stands as the NHL’s trade deadline this year.
What general manager Ron Francis will do likely hangs in the balance as of right now. If the Canes can take advantage of the home-heavy slate and stay in the playoff fight, perhaps even getting above the cutline by deadline day, Francis, bolstered by additional financial freedom from new majority owner Tom Dundon, might take a buyer’s approach. The Canes’ fourth-year general manager could make some necessary additions, particularly at forward, to bolster the team for a possible first playoff run since Barack Obama’s first term as president.
However, if the Canes falter and slip further behind the pack, Francis would likely either stand pat or take the approach he has over the past three trade deadlines of selling off players on expiring contracts (of which Carolina has few this year) as rentals for future assets.
It certainly is not overstating things to say that this homestand, and the month of February as a whole, will determine where Carolina finishes the 2017-18 season. A good month at home would give the Canes an excellent chance to return to the postseason. A poor one would probably leave the team in what’s become an all-too-familiar position past game 82.
