We’ve blinked and the grind of the regular season is almost over.
Starting tonight the Canes have yet another three games in five days stretch—in Pittsburgh, hosting Detroit, and then up to Montreal. After that, though, they finally get a longer break to catch their breath. Once the Montreal trip is completed they have no more games for four days, and those next three—while a three in four day stretch—are all at home. It’s a real breath that this squad likely needs both for health and for actual practice.
The question is, does the team look at this stretch coming up and their game slip? Or do we see more of this current squad that has grabbed points in seven straight, winning six of them? Almost all of those wins were against clear playoff teams and now with the break in site they have three games against teams that are either fading or out of it completely.
Do they they a breath as Rod Brind’Amour would say?
We’ll get our first answers tonight against Pittsburgh. The Pens are nine points out of the wild card spot with twelve games left, so while not functionally eliminated in spirit, they’d have to jump four teams in order to do so. The fact that Jake Guentzel is currently on the Hurricanes roster basically tells you what the Penguins thought of their chances to do just that.
Ah yes, Guentzel. You may have heard that tonight is a big reunion game for him. Remember when he was traded to the Hurricanes, he was still on LTIR so he actually hadn’t been on the ice for Pittsburgh in a while. The fans didn’t get a chance to say good-bye to him—they hope temporarily as he’s a UFA this offseason and the sentiment seems to be they want to sign him back—and clearly something along those lines will be planned tonight. Expect a video thanking him for his time in Pittsburgh to hit early on, and emotions to be on full display.
All emotions aside, the Hurricanes still have a ton to play for. Seven teams are all within a point of each other for the Presidents’ Trophy, and while that particular mark has been a curse more than anything, with the race so tight the winner may see that more as a boost of doing the work it took to go into the playoffs hot. As it is, it’s a prize the Hurricanes have never taken, and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs come with it. Where the Canes end up in the standings also are in such flux to where they could play Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Washington, or Detroit—Carolina’s opponent on Thursday.
Also at stake is a bounce back game for Pytor Kochetkov. The last time the goalie was on the ice was the 7-6 shootout loss against the Capitals on Friday. The Canes exhibited every sign of playing a back-to-back and their third game in four days, giving zero support to Pyotr. He’s 1-1-1 in his last three, with only of the games—the Islanders—showing what fans saw against the Rangers in that 1-0 loss. He’s now getting a team that got three days in Raleigh with an optional skate on Monday, so hopefully that confidence will move over to him.
As for the Penguins, they have lost three straight, the most recent one coming on Sunday in overtime against the Avs. They had a 4-2 lead going into the third period, but then surrendered two in the third and lost in overtime. It was the first time in a while that they showed some fight against one of the top teams in the league. A look at their schedule shows not only losses against fellow Presidents’ Trophy contenders, but lopsided ones at that. They’ve clearly turned the page to building momentum for next year and getting their own new additions comfortable in Pittsburgh before a pretty big offseason.
One of those additions is the current NHLer Pittsburgh acquired as part of the deal, Michael Bunting. Considering Bunting thought he was signing up for a current Stanley Cup Contender and will instead be spending his first playoffs away from the ice in a while, he may want to take tonight personally.
All in all it will be a bit of an odd night. What that means for the product on the ice, we’ll see.
If you aren’t going to be in Pittsburgh to see the action, here’s how you can catch it.
- Time: 7:00 PM
- Location: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
- TV: Bally’s Sports South, Mike Maniscalco on Play-by-play, Tripp Tracy doing color, and Hanna Yates doing reports rinkside
- Radio: 99.9 The fan, Adam Gold pre and post game host
- Jersey: White
- Lines: Moneyline: Canes -192/Penguins +160, Puck Line: Canes -1.5 +130/Pitt +1.5 -155, O/U 6.5, Over +100, Under -120
