To be clear, my intent is not to say that everything is okay or that with certainty things will end well. The Hurricanes four-game losing streak and repeats of the same problems are a legitimate cause for concern. But at the same time, the situation is not as dire as it feels in the midst of a long losing streak, and there are still reasons for optimism. And that is the subject for today’s Daily Cup of Joe.
Current place in the standings adjusted for games played
The current standings show the Hurricanes in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division which obviously is not good. But if one counts games in hand as being worth one point (so playing .500 in them), the Hurricanes climb above the Rangers by a point and are only one point behind the Blue Jackets for fifth place and two points behind the Islanders for fourth place. Obviously, this requires collecting points in the games in hand, but the point is that the Hurricanes are not far off the pace despite their recent woes.
Other playoff hopefuls are struggling too
If one counts the Capitals, Flyers and Penguins as being into the playoffs (not a sure thing but likely enough to assume for this exercise), that leaves two wild card slots to be won. By no means is it a certainty, but if you consider the Rangers also to be a team rising based on winning nine out of ten before a three-loss hiccup with a home and home set against the Flyers and another tough match up against the Blues, that still leaves one playoff spot. And by bumping the Rangers up, the teams that are left competing for that one wild card spot are all struggling as much as the Hurricanes right now. The Islanders are 2-7-2 in their last 11 games including three straight losses with the most recent to the Senators. The Blue Jackets blue a two-goal lead in the third period in their last game and lost in overtime and have won only twice in their last 13 games. Overtime loss points are keeping them going right now with a 2-5-6 record in those 13 games. Finally, the Panthers are 1-4-2 in their last seven games.
At least one of those struggling teams will make the playoffs which puts the Hurricanes as an even odds bet even with their recent struggles.
A goalie return could help
By no means can one pin the recent losses on the goalies, but I do think getting one of the two veterans back could be a positive. The wild card is whether Mrazek or Reimer could hit the ground running after a layoff, but the potential is there for a boost.
Maybe increased urgency helps
The 2018-19 Hurricanes played their best hockey once their backs were against the wall. The Hurricanes are nearing that familiar place as we speak. Might that be exactly what the team needs to find focus, determination and a higher gear just like in 2018-19? One can hope.
What say you Canes fans?
1) Despite the recent struggles, are you still able to muster some Canes optimism?
2) What are the chances that all of the Hurricanes, Islanders, Blue Jackets and Panthers struggle to the end such that even a modest finish is enough to back into a playoff spot?
3) How do you think it all ends?
Go Canes!
Am I mustering optimism? It’s hard when we look as flat as we did last night. That seems to be the difference lately: we just look unthreatening where the few games before the deadline we generally played hard even when we lost. We just don’t look like a team that believes in itself right now and that is going to have to change and fast.
The only good news is that the only team playing its best hockey of the season right now is PHI – which is another reason to discount last night’s loss a bit – and NYR; everyone else is either downright struggling as much as we are or have just regressed to their mean.
I still believe that the NYR schedule will catch up with them and that CBJ fades. I just hope we figure out how to integrate all our new players into a team before we run out of games. It’s not too late to get hot, but we have to warm up first. That needs to start Saturday.
I actually think it’s going to be PHI-BOS in the ECF’s and one of those two teams will win the Cup.
1. My level of optimism is directly related to the level of desperation with which the team plays. So, yeah…no.. Until/unless the team plays with desperation I do not find myself optimistic.
2. Is the goal really to lose less than other teams in order to make the playoffs? Take a look at the West – 6 teams within 3 points of each competing for 3 spots. All those teams are winning. Do you really want to make the playoffs because we are not as bad as FLA or CBJ?? I do think that one of those named teams will turn it around and string some wins together to make the case they belong in the playoffs.
3. How it all ends? I think..hmmmm…
At this moment, watching us fall ever further out of playoff contention optimism is hard to muster. The hockey gods just seem to have turned against us. Longer term I just did re-up for next season and signed up for 2 additional playoff strips in hopes those same hockey gods become kinder.