Can consistent Hurricanes finally find playoff success?

It’s funny that the Carolina Hurricanes, in a sense, have become the model of consistency in the NHL because, for a long time, the Canes lived a real boom-or-bust existence.

Carolina made the playoffs just three times in a 16-season stretch from 2002 through 2018. However, their three appearances went like this: ’02 Eastern Conference champs, 2006 Stanley Cup champs, 2009 final-four appearance. 

Really, the Canes are living an opposite existence now. Raleigh’s club is cruising toward a seventh straight post-season appearance — no small feat — but despite real regular season success, this iteration of the Hurricanes has yet to make the Cup final and has been bounced in Round 2 or sooner in four of the past six springs. 

Before we fret about the playoffs, though, let’s give this team credit for the way it just keeps clipping along. With two weekend wins — Carolina dented the playoff dreams of a couple Eastern Conference foes by beating Montreal on Friday and the Islanders 48 hours later — the Hurricanes went 11-3-0 in March for a .786 points percentage that paced the Eastern Conference.

Of course, the month started with Carolina throwing in the towel on the doomed Mikko Rantanen experience, trading the big winger to Dallas when it became clear — after he was acquired from the Avs in late January — Rantanen would not ink a long-term extension to stay in Raleigh. Of course, that move came one year after the Canes acquired Jake Guentzel at the deadline, then could not get their ducks in a row before he ultimately left as a UFA in the summer.

Despite those big swings, this franchise remains defined by how well it does on the margins: Their No. 1 centre, Sebastian Aho, was a second-round pick; their top defenceman, fourth-rounder Jaccob Slavin, is a defence-first force of nature who had to play big games with Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off for much of the hockey world to discover how good he is.

Naturally, the Rantanen drama sucked up all the oxygen around the deadline, but two other in-season acquisitions are killing it right now for Carolina. Taylor Hall — who originally landed with Rantanen in the three-way swap with Chicago and Colorado — registered a point in both weekend wins for Carolina and is suddenly playing his most productive hockey in a long time with seven goals and 12 points in his past 11 games. If those results from Hall are eye-catching, Mark Jankowski’s output is downright shocking. Acquired from the Nashville Predators on deadline day for a fifth-round pick, Jankowski scored on Sunday for his seventh — seventh! — goal in 10 contests with the Canes. OK, so a fourth-liner centre can’t possibly keep that production up, but it’s safe to say Jankowski has been a dream fit for the club.

Moving up the lineup, Jackson Blake — a fourth-rounder in 2021 — is closing out strong in his rookie campaign, skating on the top line and throwing down a three-point night versus Montreal on Friday to give him six points in his past seven outings. 

On the back end, Carolina is a team in transition. Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce left as free agents last summer and it’s at least possible we’re seeing the final NHL days of league treasure Brent Burns, who turned 40 on March 9. That said, the Canes will soon slot two blue-chippers on the blueline in the form of Scott Morrow (second-rounder in 2021) and Russian Alexander Nikishin (third round, 2020). Morrow and Nikishin may or may not move the needle this year — it’s possible Nikishin lands in North America when his KHL season is done and Morrow did record four assists in just five GP in March after an AHL call-up — but there’s no doubt both guys will be huge pieces long term. 

Even with some turnover on the back end this year, Carolina — as always — remains an analytics darling. The Canes have the best expected goals percentage (56.08 per cent) in the league according to Moneypuck and have not finished lower than third in that category in any of the past three seasons. 

And while nobody is going to have faith in the Hurricanes’ goalies until they finally get it done, it’s worth noting that Frederik Andersen’s March save percentage of .939 is tied with Colorado’s Scott Wedgewood for the best mark in the league for any goalie with at least five games played.

Overall, there’s no reason to think Carolina will cede its status as a perennial contender any time soon. The only question is, can the Canes go any further this time out than they have been recently?

• The Vegas Golden Knights have had a favourable schedule recently and took full advantage by ripping off six straight wins, the most recent of which came in Chicago (5-3) on Friday and Nashville (3-1) the next night. The Knights have defeated two other struggling teams, Boston and Detroit, on this run, while also notching wins over middling Minnesota and a quality ‘W’ over Tampa Bay. The Pacific playoff path certainly goes through the desert now, as Vegas holds a seven-point advantage on the second-place Kings. Jack Eichel is making a late push in the Hart Trophy race with an incredible 13 points during the six-game winning streak, including a 1-1-2 night in Nashville. 

• Speaking of trophy pushes, here comes Art (and Hart) contender Nikita Kucherov. A week ago, the Bolts winger was third in the scoring chase, seven points behind leader Nathan MacKinnon. On Monday morning, Kucherov — who had four points in Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Islanders — woke up tied with MacKinnon for the NHL scoring lead at 109 points. The 31-year-old is seeking his second straight Art Ross and third career scoring title, and the outrageous run he’s on right now — goals in four straight games, 11 points in his past three outings and 17 total during his current eight-game scoring streak — might get him there. Tampa has nine games left and Kucherov needs 18 points to his 1,000 in his brilliant career. Does he knock this out before October?

• With a goal on Sunday, Alex Ovechkin is now five away from tying the all-time career goals mark and five certainly feels like the number — on the most magical of nights — he could score in one game to equal Wayne Gretzky. Ovi and the Caps are in Boston on Tuesday to face a torpedoing Bruins squad that has dropped eight straight games and surrendered five or more goals in five of those eight outings. 

Regardless of what Ovechkin does, it will be a special night in Boston as former Boston College banger Ryan Leonard — the eighth-overall pick in 2023 — is expected to make his NHL debut with Washington in his home state.

At the other end of the streak spectrum, that same night the white-hot St. Louis Blues go for 10 straight victories when they host the desperate-for-points Detroit Red Wings. 

• Brad Marchand will try to irritate the Toronto Maple Leafs for the billionth time in his career — but first as a Florida Panther — when the Cats visit Toronto on Wednesday. A regulation-time win for the Buds would really help them get a leg up on Florida for top spot in the Atlantic Division. 

• Sidney Crosby and Connor Bedard will go head-to-head for the first time this year on Sunday, when the Pens visit Chicago. Crosby is winding down his career, Bedard’s is only beginning, but both must be going crazy over all the losing in their hockey lives. 

Red and White Power Rankings

1. Winnipeg Jets (51-19-4) The Jets basically have games with every Western Conference contender left on their schedule, starting with a road trip this week that takes them through Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Before the season ends, they’ll also see Dallas, St. Louis and Edmonton. 

2. Toronto Maple Leafs (45-25-4) With two goals in a victory over the Kings on Saturday night, John Tavares — who has eight tallies in his past five games — is suddenly just nine away from 500. Will he be a member of the Maple Leafs when he hits that career mark?

3. Edmonton Oilers (42-26-5) It doesn’t sound like we’ll see Connor McDavid this week, as the team announced he won’t join them for the start of a four-game road trip that makes stops in Vegas on Tuesday and San Jose on Thursday. 

4. Ottawa Senators (39-28-6) Ridly Greig’s second full year in the NHL is finishing up nicely. The 22-year-old had 1-1-2 in Saturday’s win over the Blue Jackets and, since late January, he’s been playing at just over a 50-point clip. 

5. Calgary Flames (34-26-12) Even with the Flames’ playoff hopes fading, it’s impossible to ignore what Nazem Kadri has done down the stretch. With two assists in Saturday’s excruciating OTL to Edmonton, Kadri has seven goals and 10 points in Calgary’s past half-dozen outings. 

6. Vancouver Canucks (34-27-13) The Canucks finish with six of eight at home and, realistically, probably need to win out to have any prayer at getting into the second season. 

7. Montreal Canadiens (34-30-9) Did Lane Hutson lock up the Calder Trophy with a three-assist showing in a huge win over the defending-champion Panthers on Sunday afternoon? He’s one point away from becoming the first 60-point rookie blue-liner since Nick Lidstrom in 1991-92.