The Carolina Hurricanes entered tonight’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins seeking a win to take over third place in the Metro division. Instead, tonight’s 3-1 loss, combined with a likely win by the Columbus Blue Jackets over the Buffalo Sabres (Columbus is currently leading 4-0 as of the end of the second period), will drop them into the second wild card spot to start the last week of the regular season.
A first period that began with an early jump for the Penguins, but had started to even out for the Canes approaching the halfway point, turned disastrous in a hurry courtesy of two goals from the Penguins’ fourth line.