After wrapping up an up and down four-game road trip with a 2-2 mark, the Hurricanes have two days off at home before a weekend set launches them into the next stretch of schedule.
With only 26 games remaining and the 2020 NHL trade deadline right around the corner, we are at the edge of the stretch run. And with the Hurricanes in a pack of teams competing for the last playoff spots and currently two points out of the last spot, every point will be critical down the stretch.
Today’s Daily Cup of Joe takes a look at the Canes remaining schedule from a few perspectives in bullet point format.
* Home versus away: The Hurricanes have played exactly half of their games at home so far which means that the remaining games are also split evenly at 13 home and 13 away.
* The big roadie: For the road portion, six of those thirteen games come on a long road trip that starts February 29 and ends 13 days later. That is a little misleading because the Hurricanes will play the first road game, return home for 4 days and then start what is a real 5-game road trip that lasts 8 days.
* Finish at home: After the long road trip, the Canes finish with 8 of 13 at home.
* Familiar foes: The remaining schedule is odd in the volume of repeat opponents in the true stretch run. The Hurricanes’ playoff fate could well be decided by how they fare against the Penguins who the Canes play 4 out of last 17 games. That last stretch also features pairs of games against the Islanders, Devils, Bruins and Maple Leafs. So being able to capitalize on recent familiarity will important.
* Back-to-backs on the road: The other big thing that jumps out from browsing the schedule is the volume of games that are the second half of a back-to-back on the road. Starting on February 22, the Hurricanes play a back-to-back set in each of the last 7 weekends of the season with the second game on the road. That stands to be a tough challenge if the team gets winded down the stretch and cannot recover quickly.
* Mastering the Metro: It is no secret that the Hurricanes have struggled against the Metropolitan Division. The team will get one last chance to pass this test, and the results from that test could decide the team’s playoff fate. The Canes play 10 of their last 18 games in division starting on March 1.
What say you Canes fans?
1) Where do you stand in general with thinking that the schedule could impact the end result for the 2019-20 versus believing that it is all about playing well or not this time of year?
2) Which of trying to conquer Metro Division demons, the 4 games against the Pens down the stretch or the 7 back-to-backs with the second on the road is most daunting?
3) If you browse the remaining schedule, what else jumps out at you?
Go Canes!
We have a tough schedule, no doubt, but since so much of it is against the Metro, we can make up ground very quickly if we get rolling a bit – ie., we play consistently like we did in the 3rd against ARI or VGK. The time is now to execute against our formula for winning hockey; what worries me the most over everything else, injuries included, is that I’m not sure we know what that formula actually is. If we do know what it is, and if we’re being honest, we haven’t really been consistently applying it.
We are 5th in the Metro which contains 5 of the Top 10 teams in the entire league. We are a good team even if we haven’t gotten rolling yet, we just need to prove it against our Metro opponents now. What is somewhat encouraging is that many of our best players have started to step it up – Aho, TT, Svetch, Necas – but we’re going to need more from players who haven’t had the season they had last year – Marty, NN, McGinn, Mrazek.
So put me in the bucket that says what happens down the stretch has less to do with the schedule and more to do with playing consistently good hockey.
CBJ is going to get healthy but losing Seth Jones is going to really hurt them over a long stretch of games. They are my pick to fade down the stretch (even though they played excellent against TBY last week in a real playoff-type game). It may all come down to the last game of the season vs CBJ in PNC.
PS. At the end-of-year press conference, RBA said he got everything out of last year’s team – that they really overachieved. I wonder if he’s going to say the same thing this year. Unless we get rolling, I doubt it.
1) I think it is 25% schedule. The rest is how the Canes play and how the opposition plays. It amuses me how often we (and I include myself) blame losing on playing poorly and winning on playing “the right way.” The unspoken assumption is that the opposition play consistently and at a level that the Canes can overcome with enough effort. I am certain that Vegas and Arizona felt like they didn’t “play their way” and gave the Canes points. Conversely, I am sure Dallas and their fans felt like the Stars did what they needed to do to keep the Canes from playing well.
2) I think the back-to-back games is the biggest challenge. If the Canes lose any front-end games, the pressure will be that much more. There is always some fatigue even for the best-conditioned players.
3) The last week of February with four games is ominous. Toronto will need to win as much as Carolina. Both Dallas and Colorado will be trying to solidify their playoff position. Montreal might still be scratching. Going 1-3 or 1-2-1 would make March daunting.
dmillerdavid quoted me verbatim, it seems, so I see no reason to repeat myself! LOL!!
i.e., what he said. 😀