The Carolina Hurricanes, the defending Stanley Cup Champions, have been absolutely dominating their Metropolitan Division opponents.
The Hurricanes currently lead the Metropolitan Division with a 12-3-2 record in 17 games for 26 points on the season, six more than the New Jersey Devils, who are second with 20. They also have one more point this season than the Edmonton Oilers and Minnesota Wild, who both have 25 points, for the most in the entire NHL.
But it’s their divisional dominance that is so impressive.
Hurricanes Dominating the Metropolitan Division
Per ESPN Insights, the Hurricanes have an incredible 24-5-1 record against their division since the start of last season, for a .806 points % — the best record for any NHL team against their division in that span.
“Division dominators. The Carolina Hurricanes are 24-5-2 vs. Metro Division opponents since the start of last season (.806 points pct). No team has a better record against divisional opponents than Hurricanes in span.”
The Carolina Hurricanes are 24-5-2 vs. Metro Division opponents since the start of last season (.806 points pct).
No team has a better record against divisional opponents than Hurricanes in span.
In the NHL, you play more games against teams in your own division, which is why it’s so important to constantly win those games and rack up points against your divisional rivals.
It seems like Carolina has got that down to a science, as the team is rolling on all cylinders, especially when it comes to taking out its opponents in the Metropolitan Division, which is the weaker of the two Eastern Conference divisions, as the Atlantic Division is quite deep compared to it.
Hurricanes Rolling Over Their Divisional Competition
The Hurricanes are the best team, by far, in the Metropolitan Division, with the Devils running up their rear.
After that, though, this division just isn’t very good, which will allow the Hurricanes to continue to rack up important points as the season moves along.
The New York Rangers are having a bounceback year, but are still a bubble playoff team, at best. The Washington Capitals have a good team on paper but haven’t been able to put it all together. The New York Islanders have potential, but haven’t truly lived up to it yet. The Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Philadelphia Flyers all seem unlikely to be playoff teams this season, as all three of them have too many holes.
That should give the Hurricanes an easy path to the postseason, as they should have no problem winning on the top-three seeds in their division to lock up a playoff spot. Not only that, but they may very well finish at the top of their division and conference once again, which would give them a great chance to have home-ice advantage throughout most of, if not all of, the postseason this year.
The NHL hasn’t had many repeat champions since it instituted a salary cap two decades ago, but the Hurricanes certainly have an excellent chance of doing so. They are an excellent team, and they get the job done against their own division, which is half the battle to attaining superior playoff seeding in the postseason, which gives you a better chance of making a deep postseason run.
Hurricanes Are Dominating Metropolitan Division Opponents