Carolina Hurricanes

Canes Keep Streak Alive and Avoid Sweep from Devils
March 26, 2017, 2:33 PM ET [0 Comments]
Ben Case
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The Canes and Devils played an intense game last night. The Canes were skating to keep their playoff hopes alive, while the Devils had an abundance of youth fighting for their future spot on the big squad. All in all, both sides played a tightly contested game that the Canes were able to pull out in the third period.

The three players that continue to make significant impacts proved to be the difference makers again: Lindholm, Aho and Skinner all extended their point streaks. In fact, all three goals scored on Schneider came as a result of one (or more) of those three players.

Lindholm is on a ten-game point streak which is the second longest active streak in the NHL right now—he has shown in the second half of this season that he is ready to be in the top-6 consistently and can produce. While he was ice-cold at the beginning of the season, he is on a mission now. He showed some great awareness on his assist to Aho on the Canes first goal.

Skinner is also on quite the recent streak. He has ten goals in his past ten games and is also on a six-game point streak. He was the difference maker last night, as he broke the deadlock tie with an outstanding effort to win a loose puck and get a breakaway goal. In addition to his goal, he led all forwards with 4 SOG and had many other attempts.




Finally, Aho found the back of the net twice. His first goal was a pure result of noticing that the Devils player was looking over his right shoulder—Aho cut to the middle (D’s left shoulder) and received a great slot feed from Lindholm—this is a goal scorer’s play for sure. The main reason I say this is because of how fast Aho reacted to the play—if he waits a split-second longer, this play most likely is more contested or broken up.




His second goal was just pure puck determination. Both Aho and Ryan were establishing a strong fore-check and puck pressure on the Devils—the result was a turnover and a puck that had eyes. Aho’s goal with just over three minutes remaining in the third was pivotal because it extended the lead to 3-1 late. He now has 23 goals at 19 years old and is third in goals for rookies and sixth for total points.




Finally, Lack continues to play sound hockey. While he really wasn’t challenged much with high danger shots or need to make any fantastic saves, he also didn’t let in any weak goals which is key. Last night, he did exactly what he needed to do—keep the Canes in a position to win the game and not be a liability. His biggest save of the evening was in the third period on a breakaway to keep the game tied up.




He is certainly stopping the puck very well right now, however, one also has to note the effort and how much better defensively the team as a whole is playing now. To me, the most notable item is the downtick in mistakes with pinching that result in odd-man rushes—this cost the Canes multiple games this season in one-goal losses and third period debacles.

The Canes need both him and Ward to play well in the final stretch, as the Canes have three remaining sets of games in “back-to-back” scenarios. In the next 14 days, the Canes have their final 9 games—so yes, both goalies are necessary if they want to keep this run going.

As the Canes continue their push for the playoffs, they will have to win some tough games. After they play the Red Wings at home on Monday and Tuesday, they will have seven games remaining with some top competition: Columbus, Dallas, at Pittsburgh, at Minnesota, NYI, St. Louis and Philadelphia.

Based on the remaining schedule for both the Islanders and Bruins, I think the Canes need to be more worried about the Islanders than the Bruins. The Bruins have a tougher schedule and less games remaining.

The Bruins have seven games left and it doesn’t look to be an easy path—they play Nashville, Dallas, Florida, at Chicago, Tampa Bay, Ottawa and end the season with Washington. Despite six being at home, only Dallas appears to be an “easier” game. I could easily see the Bruins only winning two of their final seven.

The Islanders have eight games remaining and their path seems have more “easy” games—they play Nashville, at Philadelphia, New Jersey, at Buffalo, at Nashville, at Carolina, at New Jersey and finish with Ottawa. I can easily see the Islanders winning at least four of their final eight, if not more.

To say the least, the new favorite teams for Caniacs will be Nashville, New Jersey and Ottawa. All three of these teams can be a significant impact on helping the Canes continue their current climb in the standings.

Monday and Tuesday will be big games—let’s hope tons of Caniacs show up to support the Canes in their final stretch. The big question: Now that the pressure is back on, can the Canes keep their progress up?