Coming off an impressive and fun home win on Thursday, the Canes are right back at it in Columbus on Friday night.
Canes fans should be well fed heading into the game with the team scoring a food promo trifecta last night. The power play scored Bojangle’s boberry biscuits, and Elias Lindholm came through with a goal for free chips and queso at Moe’s. For those inclined, the “Canes brunch… is picking up a boberry biscuit at about 10:30am when that promo ends and then heading to Moe’s for their open for queso and chips. And with the Canes win, all Canes fans get 50% off menu price at Papa John’s using ‘CANIAC’ promo code. This makes for a nice Friday night dinner option or works out real well for in-game eats with the back-to-back. Somewhere the hockey and pizza gods must have brokered a deal that sends good karma to the Canes tonight if enough fans are eating pizza while the next game is happening.
Believe it or not, I have exactly zero promotional ties to any of those businesses. I just LOVE the sheer joy (and stress) of trying to wedge 2 restaurant stops before actual lunchtime into my schedule to collect 2 food freebies that are probably not worth what I spend on gas to get them especially if I then eat early lunch in Moe’s like they hope. But it is the little things that make like fun, and driving around thinking about Canes hockey sort of playing hooky in the middle of a work day is 1 of them. And with the Canes back in a playoff spot, it is even better today.
But I digress…
With yesterday’s win the Canes are officially in the #8 spot and final wild card position in the Eastern Conference. It is a great place to be, but really all it means is that the Canes are at the starting line for a 40-game race to the finish. Significantly, they are still in the race, and they are not starting with a disadvantage like some teams. And the race is on. Except for the Penguins who surged ahead of the pack and possibly the Islanders who fell down more than others to fall behind, the 1st half of the 2013-14 season has been a slog through the mud for the rest of the Metro Division. None of the teams looked consistently good. No one established any kind of advantage, lead or greater hope than anyone else. They all just slogged forward taking turns falling to get to where we are now. But that is changing. The group as a whole is playing better. At this moment (subject to change within 3-4 days), the Flyers are the top of the heap (again not counting the Penguins who are in their own race). With an impressive 8-2 record in their last 10, Philly has seized 2nd place in the Metro, and is trying to run from the pack. The Caps are treading water a bit and even coughing on some of late, but they are clearly in the thick of it. And the Rangers (6-3-1), Devils (4-3-3) and Islanders (7-3) are all playing decent hockey in their last 10. Tonight’s opponent has managed to tread water under significant injury duress. Marian Gaborik is still out after returning from injury for about 1 period and getting hurt again, but otherwise the Blue Jackets are close to being at full health. Horton is finally in the mix. Bobrovsky is back. Other previously injured players are also back in the lineup. Despite being in 7th place in the division, Columbus has to feel real good about where they are. They start with a small disadvantage in the 2nd half race, but just like with everyone else in the division, they need only a great 2nd half of the season to claim a playoff spot.
From the Canes side, the team is obviously playing well. What is not to like about a 5-game winning streak that is 2nd best in the NHL right now to St. Louis (and tied with Anaheim)? And the 6-1 win against Toronto on Thursday was impressive. The team is getting solid play across 4 lines and scoring from the bottom half of the roster despite missing some key forwards in Eric Staal, Jiri Tlusty and Riley Nash, and the defense and goaltending have been consistently solid. As I have said repeatedly of late, the key for the Canes is to avoid the transition from expecting to win but showing up with the determination to do the work to get there versus showing up just expecting to win minus the work.
With that my keys to the game are:
1) No physical drop off. It was hard to figure what to expect for yesterday’s game versus Toronto. On the 1 hand the team had 4 days off since its last game which would suggest energy. On the other hand, the team spent about 2 days mired in a travel weather challenge stuck in a Buffalo hotel for much of 2 days without playing a game. The result was a pleasant surprise. The Canes looked rested and energized. They were faster and better across almost all of the 60 minutes and earned a rare easy win in the process. So going into Friday’s game which is a back-to-back with travel against a rested team, the questions are: Did the Canes spend all of their energy reserves on Thursday? Or by virtue of the confidence and easy win that saw ice time spread evenly, can they just pick up where they left off and play lights out again on Friday? Columbus has long been a team that will make you earn it.
2) Back to patience. Prior to the wild and easy Leafs win, the Canes put forward and won a stretch of more methodical efforts. That is more likely to be the recipe for winning against Columbus. The Canes need to play a sound game defensively, be patient offensively and continue to be opportunistic and capitalize when given the chance.
3) Continued push across entire roster. The Canes top players have obviously been playing well. Jeff Skinner is the hottest scorer in the NHL right now. Jordan Staal is playing his best hockey as a Hurricane. Anton Khudobin is putting up solid efforts each and every time out. But a more subtle strength of the team is the depth of its production right now. Since being elevated to 3rd-line center, Malhotra has scored 3 goals. Boychuk has 1. Dwyer has seen an uptick in offensive production. Lindholm collected 3 points in his return to the lineup. Sutter scored a goal. And aside from the welcome scoring burst, the 3rd and 4th lines have been good at controlling the play, tilting the ice and making it possible for the Canes to sustain advantages instead of trading them back and forth all game.
For the Canes, it is not a time to be satisfied with good. It is a time to ride momentum and strong play to keep winning and be great for an extended period of time. With other teams in the Metro also heating up, that is what it is going to take to be 1 of the top 2-3 teams from the pack that win playoff spots. Teams that continue to ride the up and down rollercoaster that was the 1st half of the season for virtually all Metro Division teams are about to be left behind.
Puck drops at 7pm on Fox Sports Carolinas. With later weekend bedtime for my kids, I am a game time decision for yammering in-game on Twitter (versus catching up on DVR) depending on a couple other things. Feel free to unfollow me (and hopefully add me back later) if you do not want my Canes yammering in your Twitter feed 7-9:30ish.
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