The Canes were hungrier, seemed to beat them to every loose puck tonight. Brindamour had the answer to slowing down the Rangers, similar to what Florida did.
I'm not too concerned. They beat us once; we beat them once. Clearly, they were more ready to play last night, but either way Carolina is a good tough team, so losing to them is understandable (of course you want to be closer and play better). My guess is the Rangers and Canes will finish 1/2 in either order in the Met. If/when we play in the playoffs, it will be a good tough series that either team can win - I also expect both teams will look a bit different at that time with players added at the trade DL. Also, I really think Chytil should take the rest of the regular season off, and not come back until the playoffs when the cap rules go away. It is a cap loophole that TB used with Kuch to win one of their Cups, Vegas also used it with Stone one year. We should absolutely play that game and use Chytil's money to add at the trade DL. A RW like Tarasenko and a C with some grit, and maybe a depth dman with some size to help in case of injury so we don't have to use Jones (maybe he is dealt). That is the smart play here IMO, if Chytil is able to come back at all this season.
You can’t play every game in a regular season like a playoff game. Boston did that set a record and got knocked out on the first round.
