Canes face ‘daunting task’ after bye week

The Carolina Hurricanes may want to avoid checking out the NHL standings the next few days.

They weren’t very promising for the Canes on Monday morning, and it will only get worse as the Canes go through their NHL bye week.

“You’re going to lose ground as you’re out, and it’s going to look like a daunting task,” Canes coach Bill Peters said Saturday.

The Canes were 24-22-7 after a 5-2 road loss Saturday to the Dallas Stars in their last game before their mandated five-day break. With 55 points, they sat six points out of playoff position — Toronto held the second wild-card spot with 61 points — but with six teams between Carolina and Toronto in the standings.

No team in the Eastern Conference has played fewer games than the Canes’ 53 — the Ottawa Senators also have played 53 through Sunday’s games. But games-in-hand only matter if you win and collect the points.

A year ago, the Canes were 24-21-8 and had 56 points after 53 games. One striking difference: the road record.

The loss to the Stars dropped Carolina’s record to 7-16-6 in road games, the worst in the Eastern Conference. A year ago, the Canes were 12-12-3 on the road at this point in the season.

All 16 playoff teams last season had “NHL .500” or better road records, the Minnesota Wild getting in with a 17-17-7 record.

The Canes had three straight road games before the bye, beating the Islanders 5-4 in overtime before being shut out 5-0 by the Washington Capitals and losing to the Stars. The Caps have been unbeatable at home of late, but the Stars were caught in a four-game overall losing streak before Saturday and lost again Sunday.

Peters believed his team had a pair of productive practices before the trip to Dallas and wanted a strong finish before the break. The Stars, in turn, scored three times in the first seven minutes, and the game was all but decided after the first period.

Sebastian Aho, who had eight of the Canes’ 24 shots, scored his 17th goal and Justin Faulk his 11th on a power play. But the Canes had few other highlights as goalie Cam Ward, after sitting out the Caps game, was touched for five goals on 27 shots.

The Stars were the more focused, determined team, taking advantage of a game on home ice. As for the Canes, their road woes continued.

“We weren’t good enough long enough,” Peters said.

The Canes, after the time off, play their next five games at PNC Arena – Colorado, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Ottawa and Calgary — and should be in desperation mode. Their schedule split the rest of the way is favorable: 17 games at home and 12 on the road, but all to be played in 52 days.

Of the 58 available points left for Carolina, the Canes likely need at least 40 to be in the playoff conversation, meaning something like a 19-8-2 finish. As Peters said, that’s daunting.

The Canes will next practice Thursday at 4 p.m. and face the Avalanche on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

“You only get one practice and then you play a team that’s in the rhythm of playing, so you’ve got your work cut out for you,” Peters said. “You’ve got to dig in and find a way.”

This story was originally published February 12, 2017 at 9:28 AM with the headline "Canes face ‘daunting task’ after bye week."