The Carolina Hurricanes return home on Friday night with a chance to wrap up the Eastern Conference Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. They currently sit with a 3-1 advantage after their dominating, 4-0 victory over the Habs on Wednesday night.
The Canes have accumulated an amazing 11-1 record this postseason, which puts them in rare company. Only a handful of teams have accomplished this in NHL history. While earning this record, they have kept their opponents “shots on goal” stat to startling
lows.
After allowing a league low 23.9 shots per game during the regular season, they have bested that and are now allowing just 22.2 shots per game, lowest in the playoffs.
The Canadiens are especially finding it difficult to find shots, as evidenced by their fans shouting “shoot the puck” in the third period of their latest loss. They had yet to register a shot on goal in that period until there were just three minutes left.
After the Hurricanes dropped game one of the series, which can reasonably be blamed on rust following a long 11 day lay off, they have played their game and have pretty much dominated the ice since. The team has out-scored the Habs 10-4, outshot them 108-43 and outhit them 113-77. All of these factors have taken a toll on their opponents.
Jordan Staal called his team “a machine” and indeed they are. Perhaps I should change the name of the blog to “Carolina Machine Never Breaks” although that might make some people upset.
This has been a total team effort, although there are a couple of players really performing well. Of course Frederik Andersen would have to be at or near the top of the list. He has the best stats of any goalie in the postseason with an 11-1 record, a GAA of 1.44, and save percentage of .928. He also has three shutouts for his trouble.
Next up would be defenseman K’Andre Miller who is probably playing better than the front office could even dream of when they acquired him.
He leads the defense with 8 points, (tied for 4rth on the team) and leads the entire team with a +12 rating. He also leads the defense with 26 hits, good for 7th on the team and has 9 takeaways which is a team high. Oh yes, he also leads the team in TOI averaging just over 24 minutes a game.
After the win on Wednesday night on the TNT telecast, Wayne Gretzky said that Miller was playing as well as any defenseman he had seen in the playoffs. That’s some high praise.
By the way, the photo above is classic Miller. Before every game he puts on his hoodie and is in deep thought.
Here is another shot:
If the Hurricanes win tonight, the Stanley Cup Finals will start on Tuesday, June 2nd. If not, then they will start on June 4rth.
Will Carolina be able to close this one out and improve their postseason record to 12-1? It won’t be easy, this Montreal club has been dangerous with their backs against the wall.
Game time 8 P.M. Eastern
TV: TNT and TruTV will have the action in the US with Kenny Albert handling play-by-play, Eddie Olczyk doing color from up top, Brian Boucher between the benches, and Jackie Redmond handling off-ice interviews. Also note that the NHL on TNT Face-Off pre-show will not only be an hour long, beginning at 6 PM Eastern, but that they will be on-site in Raleigh in the Buffalo Brothers Section behind section 113. Liam McHugh hosts while Wayne Gretzky, Henrik Lundqvist, Anson Carter, and Paul Bissonnette will be at the desk.
Radio: You can still listen to the familiar voices of Mike Maniscalco and Tripp Tracy. The pregame Storm Watch with Adam Gold on 99.9 The Fan starts at 7PM and runs for 60 minutes. At 8PM the Hurricanes Radio Network (consisting of 99.9, 730 The Game in Charlotte, ESPN New Bern 107.5/1490, and ESPN Greenville 107.5/1570). You will also be able stream this call through 99.9 on your smart device, app, or the Carolina Hurricanes app—and it’s not geolocked.
Odds (per Fanduel) – Canes – 245 Habs +198
We are not expecting any changes to the line up but if there are any, or if there is anything to report from the morning skate, updates will be posted in the comments.
