Deep-seated nausea is sweeping through Raleigh tonight as the Florida Panthers have defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3. With no games remaining, the Canes find themselves tied with Florida’s final opponent, the Washington Capitals. A Capitals win or overtime loss tomorrow night would eliminate the Canes’ from the playoffs and end their season. A Washington loss puts the Canes in the playoffs’ 3rd seed with home-ice advantage.

Don’t count of Florida showing up in Washington, though. While the Caps are the hottest team in the NHL (10-1 in their last 11), the Panthers players and management have already gone on record this season as hating the Hurricanes. The team that called the Canes "divers" and "actors" earlier this year is unlikely to want to do Carolina any favors. All the Canes can do is watch.

The Canes have had a nice season in the face of incredible adversity. With over 350 man-games lost due to injury, the Canes’ roster looked much like the Carolina Tar Heels roster would without Hansbrough and Ellington. They responded admirably. Since losing Captain Rod BrindA’mour for the season on Valentine’s Day, the Canes have gone 14-6-2. During that 22 game period they earned 30 standings points and matched the playoff cutoff line of the previous two seasons. It was a clip that extrapolated over a whole season, would earn the team 112 points. Little did they realize that the biggest standings comeback in NHL history was roaring behind them.

 

The Washington Capitals got off to a horrible start. As of November 22 they were already 14 points behind the Canes. On that day the Caps made a coaching change, and they were off to the races. Over the past 60 games, Washington has earned 79 standings points. In their last 11 games, they earned 20 points a scorching hot pace that would earn 149 standings points across the season.

In retrospect, it was that stretch that began just before New Year’s that did the team in. A 10-game stretch where the team went 2-7-1 is the one we’ll all regret. It’s a good lesson for the future. No matter what you do, if you take your foot off the gas, you may find yourself in a position where you cannot fight off being overtaken.

So, the future of the Canes rests in the hands of the Florida Panthers. Odds are that Washington cannot stay this hot. Will the Panthers have pride and try to win the game, or will they get the last laugh on the Canes? That will be settled at 7:00pm, tomorrow night.