How important is it for the Hurricanes to win their division? What history tells us
The conversation began to heat up soon after the NHL All-Star break and the debate will continue for a few more weeks:
How important is it to win the Metropolitan Division?
The Carolina Hurricanes, after a 4-2 road win Tuesday over the New York Rangers, widened their Metro lead to four points over the Rangers. But the Rangers then won the next night in Philadelphia and the Canes returned home to be shut out Thursday by the Detroit Red Wings, tightening things up.
“We want to finish first. That’s what we set out to do for the 82 games,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Thursday after the 3-0 loss to the Wings. “We still want to accomplish that. We made it a little tougher tonight, obviously, but that’s still what we’re trying to do. That’s the goal.”
Brind’Amour had downplayed the head-to-head matchup with the Rangers. So did Rangers coach Gerard Gallant. Both teams had qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs and there are bigger games ahead in postseason that they really want to win.
There is the matter of having a home-ice advantage in the playoffs and the higher the seed, the better. But how important is that?
“You go through 82 games, you want to be at the top of your division, top of your conference,” Canes defenseman Tony DeAngelo said. ‘We want to win every game, but our main goal is winning something much more than the division.”
The NHL realigned into four divisions before the 2013-14 season. Since then, only the Washington Capitals in 2017-18 have won the Metro Division, advanced to the Stanley Cup finals and then captured the Cup. Repeat: Only the Caps.
Here’s how the Metro winners have fared:
2014
The Pittsburgh Penguins, with 109 points, finished 13 ahead of the Rangers. The Rangers then beat the Pens in the second round of the playoffs, winning three games in Pittsburgh capped by a 2-1 victory in Game 7.
The Los Angeles Kings took the Cup, beating the Rangers in the finals as Kings forward Justin Williams was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoffs MVP.
2015
The Rangers, with 113 points, beat out Washington by 12 points for the Metro title. The Rangers topped the Pens and Caps in the first two rounds, then were beaten in a seven-game series by Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference finals — Tampa Bay winning three times at Madison Square Garden.
The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup over the Lightning. Teuvo Teravainen and Antti Raanta of the Canes were members of that Hawks’ championship team.
2016
The Caps had 120 points to easily finish ahead of the Pens, who had 104. But Pittsburgh eliminated the Caps in the second round and advanced to the Stanley Cup finals, beating the San Jose Sharks for the Cup.
2017
The Caps again claimed the Metro with 118 points, seven ahead of the Pens. But the Pens again topped the Caps in the second round, winning the seven-game series and winning three times in Washington.
Pittsburgh topped the Nashville Predators to win a second consecutive Cup.
2018
This was Washington’s year, finally. The Caps made it three straight Metro titles, closing with 105 points to edge the Pens by five points. They then won playoff series over Columbus, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, topping the Lightning in a seven-game series and winning three times at Amalie Arena as Tampa Bay held the home-ice edge.
The Caps closed out the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in five games for the Cup, starting a celebration that raged for months.
2019
The Canes remember this year fondly, rejoining the postseason party with Justin Williams their team captain. Back in the playoffs for the first time since 2009, the Canes took the Caps to seven games in the first round and won Game 7 in Washington on Brock McGinn’s goal in the second overtime. So much for home-ice advantage.
The Caps had won the division with 104 points, one point ahead of the New York Islanders (the Canes had 99). The Canes beat the Islanders, too, before losing to the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference finals. The Bruins, in turn, lost to the St. Louis Blues in the Cup final.
2020
The year of the pandemic. When the regular season was suspended in March, the Caps led the Metro with 90 points in 69 games. The Caps were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Islanders, as Tampa Bay went on to win the Cup in the Edmonton bubble.
2021
The second year of the pandemic brought about a one-season change. The Canes won the newly formed Central Division with 80 points in the 56-game season, but lost to Tampa Bay in the second round of the playoffs as the Lightning went on to win another Cup.
This story was originally published April 16, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "How important is it for the Hurricanes to win their division? What history tells us."
