After a long road journey lasting 6 games and 11 days, the Carolina Hurricanes and Canes fans finally get another dose of home hockey against the Toronto Maple Leafs. I would not say that the Canes are firing on all cylinders but they are playing confident and finding ways to win. What's not to like about a 4-1-1 road trip and coming home in 1st place in the Southeast Division.

So the Canes make quick and simple work of the lowly Leafs and claim an easy 2 points - right? Wrong in many ways. First of all, the Maple Leafs are a decent if not great hockey team right now. They are actually up a point on the Canes (though they have also played 1 more game). And their 6-1 record on the road is bettered only by the Black Hawks who have not lost yet in regulation. They are riding a 4-game winning streak including 3 of the 4 on the road coming into Thursday.

This game is a trap that often goes like this:
--Team comes home after a decent trip and finally gets a night in their own bed.
--But with only 1 day off they don't really get a chance to recover physically.
--They come out lackluster kind of more looking to ride the current wave of success rather than put forward the level of effort that made it happen.
--Decent road team comes in with jump, tilts the ice early in the game and never looks back.
--Home team loses one they probably should win and in the process basically gives back one of the hard-earned road wins from earlier in the week.

I think this game comes down to 1 thing - Do the Canes ride their current momentum and a boost from the first home crowd in nearly 2 weeks to play a game energy-wise that looks like the solid effort in New Jersey on Tuesday? Or do the Canes put forward that lackluster "first game back after a long trip" effort and leave the door open for Toronto to come in and steal 2 points?

A couple matchup points:

1) Canes penalty kill. The only major weakness of the Canes of late has been horrible results on PK. I would imagine that is the 1 thing that will be worked on be it on the ice or in video/white board sessions. Easiest solution is to stay out of the box, but this could be easier said than done against a Leafs team with some guys that can skate.

2) Tlusty/EStaal/Semin. This line was incredibly good on the road even with opposing coaches having some ability to dictate matchups. Do they look even better at home if Coach Kirk Muller can manage a few favorable matchups against lesser defenders?

3) Another race to 5? I called out the potential for a "race to 5" type of game against the Isles last Monday. I think this has the potential to be another of those. The Leafs are minus a red-hot Mike Frattin (out short-term with a knee injury), but Phil Kessel's resurgence combined with decent scoring depth so far seems to provide enough fire power for the Leafs to have a chance in a 7-9 goal game.

Thursday is 1 of those games where you need to reach deep down and muster the right kind of effort out of the gate. Canes fans have a chance to make a difference early in this game. Finish out the week strong with a win, and I'm sure Muller gives the guys a day off probably followed by a lighter skating practice with the next game not until Monday in Montreal.

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Go Canes!

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