Another regular season is coming to an end. For the fifth consecutive season, the Carolina Hurricanes will enter an elimination chamber with fifteen other teams for a chance at their sport’s greatest prize. In the next month, unknown players will become ledgers, and fabled franchise sagas will be written. Only after a lot of sweet has fallen off tired faces and a fair amount of blood has been scratched off the ice can a champion be crowned.
Scenarios, Scenarios, SCENARIOS!
Tonight’s Hurricanes game in South Florida will most likely decide the Metropolitan Division champion. Carolina doesn’t want to leave their destiny in the hands of the floundering Washington Capitals. Tonight’s clinching scenarios can be a bit complicated. Only separated by a single point there are six possible Metro clinching scenarios between the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes.
If Carolina wins in regulation and New Jersey wins or loses – Carolina wins the Metro and faces the New York Islanders in the first round.
If Carolina suffers an overtime or shootout loss and New Jersey wins – New Jersey wins the Metro and Carolina faces the New York Rangers in the first round.
If Carolina and New Jersey both lose in overtime or a shootout – Carolina wins the Metro and faces the Florida Panthers in the first round.
If Carolina loses in regulation and New Jersey wins – New Jersey wins the Metro and Carolina faces the New York Rangers in the first round.
If Carolina loses and New Jersey suffers an overtime or shootout loss – New Jersey wins the Metro and Carolina faces the New York Rangers in the first round.
If Carolina and New Jersey both lose in regulation – Carolina wins the Metro and faces the Florida Panthers in the first round.
A Season to Remember
Even if Rod Brind’Amour’s group fails to clinch their third division title in as many years, this regular season will still go down as one of the best in franchise history.
2021-22 (54-20-8) 116 Points
2005-06 (52-22-8) 112 Points
*2022-23 (51-21-9) 111 Points
2018-19 (46-29-7) 99 Points
A rollercoaster of emotions from the start. The 2022-23 season started off rocky with newly acquired winger Max Pacioretty tearing his right Achilles weeks before the season started. Normally losing someone like Pacioretty would drain a fan base of excitement for a new season. Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov stepped in to ease the pain starting the season on fire. Svechnikov earned his first All-Star appearance while Necas broke his career best for goals and assists shortly after the new year.
Brady Sjkei fought for the spotlight on Carolina’s blue line tying the team record for goals by a defenseman in a season. New arrival Brent Bruns has notched more points this season than any other defenseman while wearing a Hurricanes uniform in a single campaign. Surly Caniac’s would fill the comments of this article if I didn‘t mention Jalen Chatfield’s career-defining season. Last year’s Calder Cup win showed Chatfield deserved a shot on the big club’s roster. This season showed he’ll step into any role Tim Gleason needs him too.
The Challenger
Opposing Carolina tonight is their former captain Eric Staal. Having earned his way into Carolina’s record books through more than 900 games played for the Canes, Staal could now play his last regular season game against the team that drafted him. Staal’s coach in Florida is another Hurricanes alum, Paul Maurice. A majority of his almost 1800 games behind an NHL bench came while working for the Hurricanes franchise. Now in his twenty-fifth year as a head coach, Maurice is still chasing his first Stanley Cup ring.
If the Hurricanes plan on retaking their throne at the top of the Metro Division tonight, they’ll need to defeat parts of their former selves. For Florida, the game isn’t a must-win but more of a want-to-win. Even if the Panthers fall to Carolina, they’ve already clinched a playoff berth.
Instead, Florida wants to win tonight’s game to avoid facing the record-breaking Boston Bruins in the first round. Maurice told Florida team reporter, Jameson Olive, that if the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference is up for grabs he’ll play his best possible lineup. A seventh-seed match-up against Carolina or New Jersey is more desirable for the veteran coach.
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