Canes Surge Into Playoffs As A Model Of Consistency

RALEIGH, NC. -Although they were Central Division champions last year, the Carolina Hurricanes roster experienced a significant amount of overhaul leading into the 2021-22 regular season.
The expectations remained the same, but accomplishing those expectations is easier said than done - especially with new personnel.

For starters, none of the three goalies that guided the team to a second round appearance in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs were brought back for the following campaign. Their top point-producing defenseman signed elsewhere in free agency. Several other key pieces found new homes.
There were question marks abound as the team kicked off training camp in September.
Then, when time came for the group to put it all together, they started their regular season with a franchise-best nine consecutive wins.

New piece Frederik Andersen began his first campaign as a Hurricane 8-0-0 with a .949 save percentage, kicking off what would eventually become an All-Star and
Jennings Trophy-winning
season.
Fellow newcomer Tony DeAngelo not only produced more points than last season's top point-scoring defenseman, he recorded more than any defenseman in a single season in organization history.
Their fellow first-year Canes, Antti Raanta, Seth Jarvis, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Derek Stepan, Ethan Bear, Ian Cole and Brendan Smith, meshed perfectly with the existing corps, all coming together to publish a franchise record 54 wins and 116 points on their way to a Metropolitan Division title.
"It's been a special regular season," Rod Brind'Amour reflected after the final horn of
Thursday's 6-3 defeat of the New Jersey Devils
.
"The consistent effort that the team brings every single day is what I'm most proud of]. It's hard to play at this top level," the head coach continued. "The league is so good and [it's nice] to be able to look back and say 'that's a pretty darn good record' and we did it the right way."
Consistent is indeed a fitting word to describe the campaign. The aforementioned 9-0-0 start provided a glimpse as to what would become the team's identity for the entirety of the season.
For almost all 198 days of the NHL's regular season, the Canes were the team with the fewest goals allowed. Over that same span, the team also had the league's best penalty kill.
There were never any elongated funks, never dropping more than four in a row. On the other hand, they won four consecutive or more eight different times.
While the list of both regular season accolades could go on, the group's eyes remain fixated on what's to come.
"Once Monday hits, it goes from [low hand signal] to [high hand signal]. The jump is pretty substantial," Jordan Martinook offered of the team's understanding of the intensity in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"We're playing pretty well, but everybody can give a little more and that's what you need," the team's alternate captain shared. "We've put ourselves in a good position to have home ice and now we have to prove what type of team we are."
Going in as winners of six in a row, the veteran leader knows first-hand that just because a team has found success during the regular season, doesn't mean that it will automatically translate to May and beyond. After all, they haven't forgotten how their season ended fewer than 330 days ago.
"You learn from your past. These guys that have been here before, that's what's driving them and has all year," Brind'Amour offered. "Does it translate into the way we play in the playoffs? I don't know, but it's the fuel that's certainly there. Does it make the difference? We'll find out."
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