It's getting late early for the Carolina Hurricanes and their playoff hopes, but don’t close the door on them just yet.
An emotional win over the New York Rangers on Thursday night (in Eric Staal’s return to Raleigh) gave them 84 points, five points back of the Philadelphia Flyers, who control the East’s second wild card position entering the final week of the regular season.
Not helping Carolina’s cause is having only four games remaining, and the closing stretch begins Saturday night – their final meeting of the season with the Blue Jackets at PNC Arena.
The Hurricanes will split their remaining schedule with two at home and two on the road, and thinking mathematically here, their only hope at pulling off a postseason miracle is to win all four and then get some help from the teams ahead of them.