I have two half-written articles with a bit more depth to them, but not enough time or energy to finish either after a long day and a Hurricanes game day.
Top of everyone’s mind right now anyway if the team’s playoff quest.
Today’s Daily Cup of Joe breaks down the situation after Tuesday’s results.
The standings
With the Canes win and the Blue Jackets loss, the Hurricanes are now up a point on both Montreal and Columbus with each team having two remaining games.
What it takes to make the playoffs
The Hurricanes need to finish above only one of Columbus or Montreal to make the playoffs.
What it takes to clinch a spot
Beating Montreal
To finish above the Canadiens the Hurricanes magic number is three points as long as the Hurricanes do not give up regulation or overtime win in the final two games. So two Hurricanes wins of any kind beat Montreal, or a Hurricanes regulation or overtime win (not a shootout win) paired with a Montreal overtime or shootout loss would be enough to get the Hurricanes a tie and win the tiebreaker. So with the Canadiens playing the Capitals on Thursday, clinching a playoff spot is definitely a possibility.
Remaining schedule: At Washington on Thursday; Vs. Toronto on Saturday.
Beating Columbus
The situation with Columbus is a bit different because Columbus owns the tiebreaker. As such the Hurricanes must match Columbus in the final two games to beat them out. Columbus has a favorable schedule, but anything can happen in a single game.
Remaining schedule: At Rangers on Friday; At Ottawa on Saturday.
Still chasing the Penguins
The Hurricanes chances of catching the Penguins for third place in the Metropolitan Division seemed to die a harsh death in Sunday’s loss. But the Penguins surprisingly lost to Detroit on Tuesday and dropped back into range. The Hurricanes are two points behind the Penguins with the tiebreaker in hand. As such, The Hurricanes just need to win one more than the Penguins (i.e. 2-0 versus 1-1) to leap frog them and steal the #3 playoff slot for the division. The Pens schedule is favorable, but Tuesday proves that that comes without guarantees.
Remaining schedule: Vs. Detroit on Thursday; At Rangers on Saturday.
What say you Canes fans?
1) Who thinks the Hurricanes get a storybook ending with a win against New Jersey followed by an announcement on the video board that Montreal has lost clinching a playoff berth for the Hurricanes?
2) If the Hurricanes need to win both of the last two to get in, do you think they can/will do it?
3) What is your prediction for where the Hurricanes ultimately finish in the standings?
Go Canes!
Good luck everyone keeping your nerves/excitement in check over the next few days because I’m already a complete wreck.
Haha, I hear you this is a stressful time for diehards. Times like this I break daily routine, take an extra walk, go out for a random breakfast, binge watch old episodes of something, anything to keep it offbeat. It certainly limits the over-analysis of the team’s playoff brink.
In match play golf a player should always assume the opponent will make his putt. By doing so, the player insures his focus is on making his. The Canes are in the same situation, 1 up with 2 to play. Just make your putts, plan to win every hole.
1. MTL has been playing very well – but then CBJ was the hottest team in the league until the Bruins undressed them last night. The Devils always gives us fits. But I think, yes, we will clinch Thursday night. We may not see it on the board, but I expect the MTL/WSH score will be showed on the board throughout the game.
2. They certainly can – I actually expect PHI may mail it in on Saturday and/or they will spend a lot of time in the penalty box thereby giving our PP some much needed practice.
3. You analysis missed the Isles. Their magic number over us is 1. If they lose out (away games at FLA and WSH) and we win out we can catch them on tiebreaker. Wow. I actually think it is more likely we catch NYI for third than PIT. I think, realistically, we end up in a WC spot, all in all. But now it will be fun to watch the other games play out.
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As an aside, last night at the Cool Bars, Hurricanes promo staff included lots of tickets for tomorrow’s game (at least a dozen, maybe more?). I won a pair: Section 103, Row D – two rows behind the Devils’ bench. I got the impression that the Canes promo staff was trying to stuff the rows with Canes fans for the visuals (and audio). Look for me on TV – I will be wearing my 2006 Stanley Cup Champion cap.
Teams that try to tie up the neutral zone have been an habitual problem for the Canes. That would include the Devils. Time for RBA to adapt our attacking scheme.
Exactly.
The Hockeybuzz website has the Canes in the playoffs, albeit with 96 points. The same site also predicts that Mtl ends up with 94 pts and the Leafs with 99 (current number of points) problem is that the two teams play each other Saturday.
These are probably the worst and most flawed predictions I’ve ever seen on any website but they are amusing.
The Canes must find a way to score on the Devils, preferably early. The Canes are unable to solve the neutral zone traffic jam that the Devils are experts at creating, especially once they’ve taken the lead.
I am hoping to see Saarella play one of the two remaining games. He’s been piping hot down in Clt and I’m curious to see if his pure sniping skills translate themselves to the NHL, plus I think the team needs an extra jolt of energy. The last couple of games the team seems to be running on fumes.
I wonder if keeping young players ineligible for the Seattle draft is related to some not seeing some NHL time this season. I’ve tried to understand the rules, but must admit to being too dense to figure them out. Anybody have a clue?
It is apparently one reason why Necas hasn’t been brought back up, according Vellucci First and second-year players are not included in the expansion draft and if Necas were to play a couple of more games on NHL ice this year would count and he would be a third-year player at the time of the draft.
All that said, we have to win our games. We cannot count on MTL losing – they seem to be playing better than us and CBJ right now – and I would not bet that CBJ loses @NYR or @OTT.
Focus on the things we can control: let’s beat NJD tomorrow. And then, let’s focus on beating PHI Saturday.
PS. I’m pissed: I have a board dinner I can’t get out of and will have to watch our game (without using my phone all night) after the dinner ends. If I’m celebrating, it’ll be by myself at 12:30am-ish.
PPS. And then on Saturday, I got sucked into a birthday dinner out – I may not get to start watching that game until 10:00pm.
PPPS. I figured it out: I watched 80 games @ 2-hrs/game = 160-hours or 4 full working-weeks. That’s one month of work of Canes hockey not counting reading and posting, etc. How could I be so stupid to get scheduled on the two most important dates of the season.
I feel ya, but try not to stress too much. This team will make the playoffs…you will still have LIVE games to cheer for starting April 10th.