For Hurricanes’ playoff hopes, next five games on road loom large
Sebastian Aho doesn’t want to look ahead.
Aho doesn’t want to talk about personal point streaks or the NHL standings, about wild-card playoff spots and games in hand.
Aho is simply focused on the Philadelphia Flyers game Thursday. That’s it. The Canes center is trying to remain myopic and tunnel-visioned on a late-season path he believes again will end in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
There are 82 games in an NHL season but the next five for the Canes, all on the road, loom large: Philadelphia, the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils. The Canes go into the trip without their top two goalies, and after this week’s practices some reshuffled line combinations.
“The Philly game is the big game and we’ll see what happens after that,” Aho said Wednesday after a practice at Raleigh Center Ice. “Obviously it’s a big trip. With 18 games left, it makes every game and every point super important. But the Philly game is a big one.”
The Canes (35-24-5) were three points out of playoff position after Wednesday’s games. On the plus side: they have 18 games remaining, the most in the league. The downside: 16 of the 18 games are crammed into March.
The Canes are 17-16-2 against Eastern Conference teams (18-8-3 against the West) but 6-11-1 within the Metropolitan Division. To reach the playoffs, that will need to change with three of the next five games — Flyers, Islanders, Pens — against Metro teams.
The surging Flyers (39-20-7), after a 5-2 win Wednesday over the Washington Capitals, have won seven straight. They’re 14-4-4 against Metro teams, going 2-0-1 against the Canes in the first three games this season, and a point out of the divisional lead.
The stress level in the stretch run of the regular season will be high for the Canes, just as it was a year ago when they reached the playoffs for the first time since 2009. Unlike a year ago, many in their lineup have the experience of knowing what it takes to get to the playoffs and then what a high it is to play in them — the ultimate carrot this time of year, when fatigue sets in.
“You still have to do the work,” Aho said. “It doesn’t come automatically because you’ve done it before. It’s always the same hard work and a hard push at the end of the year. But I’m confident we can make that push.”
After the Canes matched an offer sheet to Aho last summer, his salary took a big bump to $8.454 million a season, making him the Canes’ highest-paid player. Much has been expected of the Finnish center and he has delivered — 36 goals and 26 assists.
Aho, who leads the Canes in points with 62, was fifth in the NHL in goals through Tuesday’s games. His 14-game point streak, which ended Saturday in the 4-3 overtime road loss to the Montreal Canadiens, was a personal best and the third-longest in franchise history. Aho had 12 goals and nine assists in the run.
“I feel good,” Aho said. “I’ve felt good for a long time now and it helps when your legs are going. As a line we played pretty solid and more often than not ended up on the plus side against great lines. We also played a solid five-on-five game defensively.”
And having the point streak end in Montreal? He shrugged it off.
“I was upset but because we lost the game, not because of the point streak,” he said. “Those things don’t matter anymore. This time of the year team wins are all that matter.”
.jpg "AP20060117203632 (1).jpg")
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, after riding the line of Aho and wingers Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov, decided to change things up during the Montreal game and again in practice this week as the Canes had four days between games — a lengthy break at this time of the season.
Aho has been centering Teravainen and Nino Niederreiter while Svechnikov was moved to Vincent Trocheck’s line with Martin Necas. Jordan Staal was centering Ryan Dzingel and Justin Williams — Dzingel without a goal in 21 games — and Jordan Martinook centering Brock McGinn and Warren Foegele as Brind’Amour looks for more balance in the lines and to squeeze more scoring out of his lineup.
The Canes had a chance to collect four points in their past two games but came away with one. After Teravainen’s two third-period goals forced a 2-2 tie with Colorado on Friday, Svechnikov missed a defensive assignment late in regulation and the Avalanche won 3-2. Against the Canadiens, the Canes rallied from a 3-0 deficit to force overtime before losing 4-3.
Teravainen made a costly mental gaffe in overtime. Looking to make a change near the blue line, he shot the puck toward the net, in the direction of Aho and defenseman Brady Skjei. The Canadiens took possession and soon Jeff Petry was off on a breakaway to win the game.
Teravainen’s explanation: “We got the puck and I tried to carry it up and then I tried to throw it at the net, which was probably not the best way. But I saw some guys at the net and I was trying to change and then I don’t know what happened.”
Brind’Amour said it’s possible goalie Petr Mrazek could join the team on the trip if he clears concussion protocol. Goalie James Reimer will be out longer with a lower-body injury. The Canes again will rely on goalies Anton Forsberg and Alex Nedeljkovic, and in a critical part of the season., on the road.”
“We’ve been talking before every game about let’s have a good start,” Teravainen said. “It’s not just about talk. You have to make it happen. It’s about every guy has to be ready and do your job.”
The Canes have a 16-12-3 road record and are 4-1-1 in their last six away games.
“When you go on the road you just battle,” Teravainen said. “That’s what we are, a battling team.”
