Canes back in playoff picture
Feb 23, 2009
Tags: Hockey, Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes spirits are up, and for good reason. After an abysmal 5-1 home loss to the East leading Boston Bruins, Carolina has ripped off 3 straight wins, with the last 2 of those coming on home ice.
Coach Paul Maurice is very pleased with how his team bounced back from that emotional loss to Boston. “Very, very pleased, it was a critical time for us. I was very impressed with our leadership.”
The Canes were not looking like a hockey team that was about to put together any kind of a winning streak, mainly because of their struggles at home. Maurice noted that he and the team were feeling the heat. He referred to the home losses as “a shot across the bow”, and that they had to find another level.
They have responded with wins over the Islanders, Lighting, and Avalanche, ripping off 16 goals in those 3 games and putting themselves only one point out of the 8th and final playoff spot. “Just look at the standings.” Maurice said. “You have to keep putting them together as much as you can.”
Up next for Carolina is a road trip to Ottowa tonight. Basically every game from now on out is a playoff game. Ray Whitney said that climbing back into the picture in the East won’t affect the team’s focus. “Now you can’t just say great, we won 3 games or you’ll find yourself 5 points out again.”
Whitney added that going out on the road is sometimes a good thing if you’ve struggled at home. “You don’t have people booing your power play, you don’t have people yelling shoot the puck.”
Note: The New York Rangers fired their coach Tom Renney Wednesday. The Rangers are currently 2 points ahead of the Canes in the East standings.
