RALEIGH — Things have gone about as well as they can for the Hurricanes through two rounds of the NHL playoffs.
Carolina is unbeaten through eight games — the first team in NHL history to sweep the first two rounds in the Stanley Cup’s 16-win era. The team also has all of its players available and ample time to heal any bumps and bruises while it waits for the Sabres and Montreal to sort out who will be coming to Raleigh for the start of the Eastern Conference final.
That still hasn’t been enough for many pundits.
“Are the Canes finally legit?” Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin asked after Carolina swept away the Flyers. “Or are they untested, having walked through a pair of teams who didn’t even occupy playoff spots as recently as April 1?”
The idea that the Hurricanes haven’t faced a difficult path through two rounds is mostly a reaction to their historic success. For one, Carolina viewed the Senators as perhaps the most dangerous possible opponent as the regular season wound down, and so did many of the same people now criticizing the Hurricanes’ efficient path to the conference final. That includes Larkin, who picked Ottawa to beat Carolina in seven games.
“Anyone who says that is just wasting time,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said after Monday’s practice when asked about the discourse. “For me, I don’t even want to talk about it. Ottawa was the ninth-best team in the league. That was our first round matchup. And the Flyers, I think, had the best record in the NHL the last 30 games. So it’s really not worth our time to go into that.”
Let’s go into it anyway, and a good place to start when looking at Carolina’s first two rounds is Las Vegas — not the Golden Knights, just the oddsmakers.
BetOnline.ag released probabilities for each first round series in mid-April, and the Hurricanes were the fifth-biggest favorite out of the eight series, and their 63% likelihood of winning was just a hair better than Vegas’ 62.3% against Utah. Colorado (83.7%; won), Tampa Bay (70.6%; lost), Edmonton (69.7%; lost) and Buffalo (63.7%; won) were all given better chances of escaping their first postseason opponents.
The games aren’t played in sports books, however, but it’s not like Carolina didn’t have some trials to overcome to complete its historic double sweep.
The Hurricanes have faced more shorthanded opportunities per game than any team in the playoffs, killing 38 of 40 penalties — including six 5-on-3s without allowing a goal. That’s a credit to Carolina’s penalty killers and goaltender Frederik Andersen, who ranks first among all playoff goaltenders with 11.2 goals saved above expected, according to MoneyPuck.com.
The Hurricanes’ defense pairing of Sean Walker and K’Andre Miller has done heavy lifting for Carolina in its eight wins. The duo has been on the ice together at 5-on-5 for seven goals for and one against, and both were doing it while awaiting the birth of their first child.
Miller’s son was born May 2, the same day as Game 1 against the Flyers in Raleigh, while Walker’s wife gave birth to a daughter last Friday during the off day between Games 3 and 4. His child’s arrival, however, required two flights — one to Raleigh and one back to Philadelphia.
“The baby gods were on my side on that one,” Walker said, “and I got to experience it all. It was amazing, really an amazing experience.”
The off-ice excitement didn’t faze either defenseman on the ice. Miller’s six playoff assists rank tied for fourth among NHL blueliners, while Walker’s Corsi For percentage (61.94%) ranks the best among defensemen remaining in the postseason, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
Even though the Hurricanes have made things look easy through the first two rounds, rest assured they don’t feel like they’ve coasted their way to a third conference final in four seasons.
“Oh, that’s funny,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said Monday of the idea Carolina has had a simple path to the NHL’s final four. “Both series were very tough, and we had some fortunate bounces too to make it four straight. But, yeah, not easy. I was pretty exhausted, even the last couple days, just kind of recovering and thinking about the series.
“But we got a lot of work ahead of us as well.”
