It wasn’t the fiery, inspired effort one would expect from an NHL team following a scathing callout from their head coach.
Thanks to a quirk in this year’s schedule, the Hurricanes met the division rival Philadelphia Flyers for the first time this season... 53 games into their slate. It wasn’t the best time for one of those tentative, feel-each-other-out games that you so often see when divisional rivals usually meet for the first time in October, November, or sometimes even December. But February? In the middle of the playoff push? Not when you expect to see that kind of a game.