Playoff hockey in the regular season; a must from here on out
Mar 10, 2009
Tags: Hockey, Carolina Hurricanes
"We feel like we're playing really well right now... What I think is really exciting for us, is that we're playing playoff style hockey."
Matt Cullen's words from Tuesday afternoon ring true. The Hurricanes have played some of their best hockey of the season recently, and maybe their most complete games of the year in wins over Calgary, Tampa Bay and New York. With the 'Canes in a tight battle in the Eastern Conference, virtually every game will feel like a "must-win" in the 'Canes locker room.
Fourteen games remain in the regular season; eight at home & six on the road. Three of those six road games come consecutively this Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Then eight of the final eleven regular season games will be at home for the Hurricanes. That is a huge advantage for a team that missed the playoffs last year by a single, heart-wrenching point.
The 'Canes have won four in a row, and eight of their last ten. Only the Pittsburgh Penguins are better in that ten game stretch at 8-1-1. The Pens & 'Canes are among six teams within four points of one another in the standings. Any given day a team can jump from ninth to fifth (see Carolina on Monday), or vice versa.
How a team responds to that type of pressure will prove to be the difference in playing hockey or playing golf when late April and May roll around.
Joe Corvo and Rod Brind'Amour both told me after Monday's shutout win over the Rangers that the 'Canes locker room is as confident as it's been all season. Cullen seems to fell the same way.
"We've been playing do-or-die games now for the last, nearly, a month. We're really seeming to get comfortable in the way we need to play to win these tough games."
