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The Canes take on Henrik Lundqvist and New York tonight for the second time this month as the Rangers come to Raleigh for the final time this season.
Vital Statistics
| Category | Hurricanes | Bruins |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Hurricanes | Bruins |
| Record | 8-6 | 11-5 |
| Goals/Game | 2.79 | 3.31 |
| Goals Against/Game | 2.71 | 2.06 |
| Shots/Game | 30.9 | 34.3 |
| Faceoff % | 49.1% | 53.3% |
| Power Play % (Rank) | 10.0% (14) | 31.9% (1) |
| Penalty Kill % (Rank) | 70.8% (14) | 85.7% (4) |
| ES Corsi For % | 55.61% | 51.66% |
| ES PDO | 101.2% | 101.0 |
| PIM/Game | 8:38 | 6:30 |
Goaltender #1
| Category | Petr Mrazek | Tuukka Rask |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Petr Mrazek | Tuukka Rask |
| Record | 5-5 | 11-5 |
| Save % | .894 | .939 |
| GAA | 2.73 | 1.96 |
Goaltender #2
| Category | Curtis McElhinney | Jaroslav Halak |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Curtis McElhinney | Jaroslav Halak |
| Record | 3-1 | 0-0 |
| Save % | .943 | N/A |
| GAA | 1.70 | N/A |
Game Notes
- The Hurricanes and Rangers are facing off for the fourth and final time this season. The Canes currently hold a series lead with a 2-1-0 record.
- The Canes won the first matchup of the season in Raleigh in October by a score of 8-5. The Rangers tallied a landslide 6-2 win against Carolina in New York on January 15th. The Hurricanes shut out the Rangers on February 8th as they snapped a streak of 16 consecutive losses in Madison Square Garden.
- The Hurricanes earned a 3-1 win against Philadelphia on New Year’s Eve. They’ve posted a record of 16-5-1 since then. That’s tied with the St. Louis Blues for the most points and most wins by a team in the NHL over that frame.
- The Canes have also scored a league high 82 goals in those 22 games, thanks to an 11.7% shooting percentage — a vast improvement over their 6.5% through the first 37 games of the season.
- The “Bunch of Jerks” shirts will be available at The Eye today by puck drop. Come out and support your favorite band of jerks!
The wait is over.
— Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) February 19, 2019
You can join the fun tomorrow. #BunchOfJerks shirts will be available at The Eye by puck drop. pic.twitter.com/k2u4wUngsQ
Storm Advisory
- This is a wild story that broke overnight: David Glenn reports that Tom Dundon is coming to the rescue of the nearly-bankrupt Alliance of American Football with a $250 million investment. [The Athletic ($)]
- Marian Hossa opened up about the skin condition that ended his career and more in an awesome feature story. [The Athletic ($)]
- Speaking of David Glenn, he had Rod Brind’Amour on his radio show yesterday (Skip to the 26 minute mark) [Hipcast]
- ICYMI, this happened.
Folks, Patrick Burke (Brian Burke’s son) just told me if Canes fans donate $1,000 to his Boston Marathon GoFundMe (he’s raising the money for You Can Play) then he will personally present one of the Bunch of Jerks shirts (on sale now) to his dad: https://t.co/D8JcCpfhor
— Sara Civ (@SaraCivian) February 17, 2019
Someone donated $1,000 dollars within EIGHT minutes?! Are you kidding pic.twitter.com/EyxMhXGlDo
— Sara Civ (@SaraCivian) February 17, 2019
- Coach Tortorella doesn’t play around.
Asked why Duclair is a healthy scratch again, Torts said: “bad listening skills.” Wouldn’t elaborate.
— Tom Reed (@treed1919) February 18, 2019
Stalking the Standings
The Hurricanes are still on the outside looking in (barely). Yesterday:
- Most importantly, the Lightning flattened the Blue Jackets. That kept the Hurricanes within one point of the third spot in the Metro, despite the Blue Jackets’ game in hand.
- The Capitals took down the Kings out in California last night.
And let’s look at points percentage of the teams in competition with the Hurricanes for a playoff spot:
- Metro 2 Capitals: 60 GP, 73 pts, .608 pt%, 100 points projected
- Metro 3 Blue Jackets: 58 GP, 69 pts, .594 pt%, 96 points projected
- WC1 Penguins: 59 GP, 69 pts, .585 pt%, 96 points projected (30 ROW tiebreaker)
- WC2 Canadiens: 59 GP, 69 pts, .585 pt%, 96 points projected (29 ROW)
- 9th Hurricanes: 59 GP, 68 pts, .576 pt%, 94 points projected
- 10th Sabres: 58 GP, 63 pts, .543 pt%, 89 points projected
- 11th Flyers: 59 GP, 63 pts, .540 pt%, 88 points projected
Six of these teams play today, so lets take a look at who to root for in tonight’s matchups: