Carolina Hurricanes clinch No. 1 seed in Eastern Conference
It’s been a clinch-happy couple of weeks for the Carolina Hurricanes, who went from securing their spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to clinching the Metropolitan Division title in a matter of days.
Now, due to their game Monday night against Philadelphia going to overtime, the Hurricanes have locked up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, assuring themselves of home ice advantage throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs.
One of the mainstays near the top of the Eastern Conference standings in recent years has clinched the No. 1 seed for the first time since relocating from Hartford to Raleigh. The Hurricanes were the No. 2 seed in the East when they won the Stanley Cup in 2006, and while they’ve won the Metropolitan Division twice on their current run, they finished behind the Atlantic Division winner on both occasions.
After taking some time to overtake a hot start by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina more or less went wire-to-wire as the top team in the Metro this season.
The Hurricanes have been a far more prolific team offensively than in recent years, as they lead the East in goals scored and trail only the Colorado Avalanche for the league lead.
Depth has been the name of the game for Carolina, as seven different players (Seth Jarvis, Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho, Nikolaj Ehlers, Jackson Blake, Logan Stankoven and Jordan Staal) have eclipsed the 20-goal mark.
The Hurricanes are getting set to embark on their eighth consecutive playoff run in eight seasons under Brind’Amour, and they’re setting up to do so while getting their star players considerable rest.
Carolina rattled off consecutive road wins over Chicago and Utah while resting different sets of top players to put itself in position to clinch the No. 1 seed.
As the top seed, the Hurricanes will draw the second wild card in the East in the first round of the playoffs. That will be either the Ottawa Senators or Boston Bruins. A win by Boston on Tuesday would lock Ottawa into the No. 2 wild card slot, while a loss by Boston would allow the Senators to pass the Bruins with a win on Wednesday.