On Monday, December 2, 2013, the Carolina Hurricanes fell from third place to sixth place in the Metropolitan Division. That’s a big jump! …downward. In the past eight games prior to last night’s win over the Washington Capitals, the Canes have only won twice. And a streak like that isn’t a good one when five of their next six games are away games. In fact, a streak like that isn’t good for any NHL team at ANY time! The month of November had its ups and downs for the Canes. A lot of it having to do with battling through injuries of their key players, including both goalies. However, they stuck it out and overall had a decent run. They didn’t start the month so well, but were able to pick themselves up, beating some of the league’s best teams, and raising their ranking in the league. But as November ended, the Canes started to drop once again. As the month of December begins, it is time for the Canes to get to work. Coach Kirk Muller made a statement to the News & Observer Monday saying, “We’ve got to compete harder and compete harder at a consistent level.”
(Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
If the Canes keep up their losing ways they are likely to fall even farther down in the standings. With more than a third of the way through the season, now is not the time to falter. It is the time to dig deep, grind games out, and find ways to climb back up into a playoff position. The spacing of the games in December is not so normal, but Carolina will have to work with it. With the first seven of eight games against Western Conference opponents, the Hurricanes are going to have to stay strong on the side of the coast that isn’t too familiar to them. But they are ready to put their struggles behind them and push forward. Defenseman, Jay Harrison, stated, “We’ve had a couple tough stretches, and we’re still right there. We want to get to a place where those are behind us… We’re close. We can be better.”
