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The Canes enjoy a 4-point lead over the NY Rangers heading into tonight's game. The Rangers are favored on home ice facing a rookie goalie in Pyotr Kochetkov. Carolina holds a 2-1 season series lead, but all bets are off with the division title coming down to the last 2 games for the Canes and last 3 for the Rangers. My brother-in-law is a huge Rangers fan living just a few minutes outside NYC, so a win tonight will be huge bragging rights for me. Last Time Out: The Canes Got off to a great start Sunday on Long Island, taking a two-goal lead in the first. Then, in the second, they not only lost their lead, they lost starting goaltender Antti Raanta due to injury as well. In came Pyotr Kochetkov, who, after allowing a goal on his first shot against, shut the door in relief. The 22-year-old rookie made seven stops over the remaining 34 minutes, going on to earn his second NHL win in his second appearance after Max Domi scored the game-winning goal to start the third. Cardiac Canes: Sunday's victory was the third victory in four days for Carolina, who managed to earn their wins in unique ways each time out. Thursday at home against Winnipeg they trailed 2-0 with one minute to go in the second period of play. Saturday in New Jersey they scored twice in the final 4:36 of regulation to force overtime. As the saying goes, "good teams find ways to win" and that's what the group has done within the past week. Goaltending Depth Tested: While his status for tonight's game remains unknown, the Raanta situation still warrants a look at the entire landscape of the position within the organization. Frederik Andersen is set to be reevaluated within the next few days after suffering a lower-body injury on Saturday, April 16 in Denver. Alex Lyon, who has led the team's AHL affiliate in Chicago in games played this season, also suffered an injury this month and is currently tabbed as "hopeful to return for playoffs". Eetu Makinemi, who started the season 11-2-1 in Chicago (AHL), went down with an injury in December and has not played since. Beck Warm, who was the next available option after Makiniemi, has not played since February due to injury. So, after Kochetkov, Jack LaFontaine, who signed with the team mid-season while playing for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, are the only other two healthy and available netminder under contract. Let The Kid Cook: Rookie Seth Jarvis scored one of Carolina's first period goals on Sunday, moving his current point streak to five games for the first time in his NHL career. It was also the third consecutive game of the streak that has involved a goal. Power Play Momentum: After starting the month 0-for-17 on the man advantage, Carolina has made strides forward as of late. Scoring in three of their last five, the power play has been pinpointed as something to get right before the playoffs begin next week. Playing The Full 60: The Canes have a league-best +46 goal differential in the third period thus far this season. Including a 10-1 ratio within the last week alone, the group has proven to never be out of games in the third, while at the same time displaying a killer instinct to put teams away. 500 For Domi: Forward Max Domi will play in his 500th NHL game tonight. Carolina's 2022 Trade Deadline Day acquisition was drafted 12th overall by Phoenix in 2012 and now ten years later has played for a total of four organizations. He played 222 games with Arizona, 153 with Montreal, 107 with Columbus and tonight will be his 18th as a member of the Canes. A Look At The Other Side: The Rangers fell two points behind Carolina in the division on Saturday after losing to the Boston Bruins, 3-1. Then, the Canes win Sunday on Long Island put them four back. Whether they get into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the number one or number two seed from the Metro, the Rangers will be a serious threat to any opponent. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin remains in the driver's seat to win the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goalie, currently pacing the league in both save percentage (.936 SV) and goals against average (2.03). However, they're not just a defensive one-trick pony. Their power play ranks third in the league at 26.2% and they have the skater with the third-most goals in the league in Chris Kreider (51). ADDITIONAL NOTES: Milestones Within Reach: Tonight will be Max Domi's 500th NHL game. Teuvo Teravainen is one goal shy of 100 as a member of the team. Sebastian Aho is one point shy of 400 for his NHL career

Well, if it's any consolation, Freddie is skating and working out.

Imagine that nightmare scenario.... Bottom line- it all comes down to seeding.

I blew that, sorry. "However, should they tie with 114 (Rangers winning out and Canes losing both), here's how the Canes win the division. ROW- the Canes can't be caught with a 4-game advantage." Duh, Carolina can't lose both and end up with 114 points. If the Rangers win out and Carolina loses both of their last 2, NY wins the division (114-112).

I don't believe so. LTIR means a player must be expected to miss 10 NHL games and 24 days of the season. Now, the rules don't specify what a "season" is, and if the word "season" includes the playoffs. I believe it to mean the regular season. Even if the Canes used LTIR to put another goalie on the roster, here's the rub. The Canes are $467k under the cap. Andersen's salary is $4.5M. Subtract the cap space from the salary and you have about $4M to go out and get an unemployed goalie. And, you still have to take the cap hit of $4M. Although LTIR allows you to exceed the cap for the purpose of filling the roster, the cap hit remains and, at some point becomes due. Anyone know of any veteran, unemployed goalies who can sit short term for the next couple months? I don't know of any.

The Canes have a 4 point lead on the Rangers. The Rangers can get to 114 points if they win out. If the Canes win one of their last 2 games and finish with 114 points, they win the division based on the tie-breakers. However, should they tie with 114 (Rangers winning out and Canes losing both), here's how the Canes win the division. ROW- the Canes can't be caught with a 4-game advantage. Tie-breakers: 1. Points 2. ROW (regulation and OT wins only, shootout wins do not count) 51-47 Canes: Winner 3. Head-to-head season series 2-1 Canes: Winner or tie 4. GF minus GA: Canes +73: Winner 5. Tiebreaker game

Pyotr is no different than any other rookie coming up. Players are bigger and faster. Shots are harder and the overall speed of the game is quicker. NY has us on Tue, Montreal on Wed and close with Washington. I think we own the first 4 of 7 tie breaker scenarios. Just gotta take care of business.

Horrible call on Martinook. PK looks good, but overall... ugh. 2 bad teams back-to-back and Carolina looks like they're skating in quicksand. Stepan's goal to open was terribly underrated. Jarvis scored on a beautiful turn and elevate. Domi's goal on that pass... oh my.

Last Time Out: Eric Comrie did everything he could for the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, including making several crucial stops early to allow his team to take a 2-0 first period lead, but eventually the Canes were able to break through him with 30 seconds to go in the second period. From there Carolina continued their momentum into the third, scoring three times there to complete the 4-2 comeback. When all was said and done, the final shots total reflected 46-22 in favor of the Canes, giving them a critical pair of points amid their Metropolitan Division race with the New York Rangers. Cap's Back: After a hit from Cale Makar forced him out of last Saturday's game in Denver and then subsequently caused him to miss Monday's matchup with Arizona, Jordan Staal was back in the Carolina lineup Thursday. He's been the team's most dominant force on offense this month, with now nine goals in his last seven games, including the empty netter over Winnipeg. After having just two goals before the All-Star break this year, #11 is up to 17 for the season now, his most in a single season since 2017-18. Runnin' With Rants: Antti Raanta earned a second consecutive win against the Jets, stopping 20 out of 22. With Frederik Andersen out of the lineup until at least next week with a lower-body injury, "Rants" has been and will continue to be relied upon by Rod Brind'Amour and staff as the regular season winds down. Thus far this year he is 14-5-4 with a .912 save percentage (SV%), including one win over New Jersey. Tony's Helpers: Tony DeAngelo recorded his 39th assist of the season on Saturday, now leaving him just one shy of matching Joni Pitkanen (2009-10) for the most in a single season by any Canes defenseman. Power Play Priority: The Canes now have a power play goal in two of their last three games, which is something to be celebrated after starting the month 0-for-17. Thursday's goal on the man advantage came during four-on-three play, but Carolina will take them any way they can get them on special teams. Players and coaches alike have said that the power play is a point of emphasis to improve upon as they get closer and closer to postseason play. A Look At The Other Side: New Jersey earned a big win over Vegas earlier this week, reminding all that while they may be out of postseason contention, they still pose a threat. Young superstar Jack Hughes is done for the season, but Jesper Bratt has emerged as another budding superstar on the team, now with 70 points in 72 games this season. Defense has been a big struggle for New Jersey this season, allowing 3.64 goals against per game, which ranks in the bottom five of the league. Lastly, Carolina will see former defenseman Dougie Hamilton for the first time this season tonight. The 28-year-old missed both of the meetings between the two sides in January as he was out with a broken jaw. Forwards: Teravainen - Aho - Jarvis Svechnikov - Trocheck - Necas Niederreiter - Staal - Fast Martinook - Domi - Lorentz Defensemen: Slavin - DeAngelo Skjei - Pesce Smith - Cole Starting Goalie: Kochetkov Injuries: Frederik Andersen Jesperi Kotkaniemi Scratches: Ethan Bear Derek Stepan

Did you not see the net-front on the PP goal to get the Canes on the board? Did you not see the work, shot, retrieval, shot, rebound that got Slavin's goal? Both of those are on Svech, and I don't think he got credit for an assist for either. But those goals were as much his as Turbo's or Slavin's.

Not a UNC fan, so I looked it up because I'd always heard Smith wouldn't turn Jordan loose and preached and coached "team first."

Michael Jordan averaged 17.7 points per game at UNC because that's how Dean Smith built the team. A team built with guys who all scored in the double digits, which meant they were putting up 77 per game. Put a McDavid on the Canes and he'll get his 50+, but Aho and Svech will be reduced to 15-20 each instead of their combined 66 and this team is nowhere close to the +69 in goals scored. No way I'm trading the current lineup for a 50+ goal scorer.

Saying Svech hasn't improved isn't paying attention: And a couple other thoughts- a +19 when he still does occasionally take the dumb penalty is pretty fugging good.

Just stop. Any team that has the 50-goal guy has no one else around him because you can't keep a 50-goal scorer and a 35 or 40-goal guy on the same roster. There's a hard cap- no team can afford to keep 'em. Toronto: Matthews (58), Marner (34) and Tavares (26) are 40% of the team's cap. And who else they got scoring? Nylander has 36, but throw in his salary and you have 50% of the team's salary on 4 guys. Washington: Ovi-Putin (58), Wilson (24) and Kuznetsov (24) make up 28% of the Caps salary and the 3 guys on Toronto I mentioned above? They all make more than Ovi-Putin. But the Caps scoring is very consistent down the roster behind Ovi-Putin with 7 players other than the 3 I mentioned in double-digit goals. Tampa Bay has Stamkos (34), Point (27), Kucherov (20), Killorn (25) and Colton (21). And all of those guys are centers, while Kucherov plays on the wing. I'll take that distribution of scoring all day long over a 50+ and a handful of high teens goal scorers. A team can build 3 solid scoring lines with numbers like those because behind those 5 guys are 4 more double-digit scorers. And they're not killing their cap with those guys. And let's not forget another telling sign- the Canes are a +69 in goals scored (#5) and have given up a league best 190.

Cane, Planes and Playoff mobiles...

Unlike the NFL, where every game matters, the NHL schedule allows for the occasional lapse in performance without it killing your chances of a playoff spot. There's a reason it's called the second season. Another thing to consider is scheduling this season and how the league really didn't do the Canes any favors. There was a 12 day stretch over the Christmas holidays when the Canes had 4 games (Preds, Bruins, Sens and Panthers) postponed due to COVID. So, while the rest of the league lost their Olympic time off because the US decided not to send NHL players, the Canes got screwed when the league rescheduled those missed games and stacked up 3 back-to-back game sets in a 6 week period. How many times in the last month have you heard, "4 games in 6 days?" Given the fact there's no break between the end of the season and the playoffs, the Canes aren't getting more than a couple days off at any time going forward, unless they sweep someone in a playoff series and can wait a few days for an opponent.

It's beginning to sound a lot like the Panthers forum in here.

A lot of North Carolinians don't give a sh*t about the Panthers, either.

"Threatening" to kill her? See, if she'd actually been murdered and he was somehow involved, he could be headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the future and Ray Lewis would be inducting him...

As I said on the first page of this thread yesterday afternoon, the Canes will need to score 4 to win games. But, let's not kid ourselves, the 3 scores by Arizona last night were the result of lazy defensive efforts and bad turnovers. They were all uncontested snipes, 2 of them from inside 20 feet. Ritchie's shot was a missile from dead in the middle with no one close to defend. The 2nd period was a lackluster defensive effort. Glad they came back and stood tall in the 3rd, but this was a game the Canes were supposed to win, and it should not have been that close.

Go up 3 goals and get lazy, that's what happened.

What the f***! Coyotes scoring with no opposition. These guys are taking clean, uncontested shots and scoring.

Raanta has a good game going, then he just stands there and gets beat. Gotta go out and take the time and distance away.

Nino! Domi with the assist, Nino squares it with his skate and blisters it.