Same site, same opponent for Wings, Hurricanes (Mar 28, 2017)
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes and Detroit Red Wings will face two diverse challenges coming to the rink Tuesday for a rematch at PNC Arena.
Detroit, now 5-1-1 in its last seven games, will be playing its third game in three nights, hoping to find some energy to compete again and play spoiler against a team that is now riding an 11-game point streak.
For Carolina, seeing goalie Eddie Lack carried off the ice on a stretcher on a game-ending collision in overtime Monday night adds to the emotions that are already on sensory overload with seemingly everything riding on every game as the Hurricanes try to chase down Boston and several other teams for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
"It's our job. We have to come in and play," said Carolina All-Star defenseman Justin Faulk, who had two goals and nine shots in a 4-3 overtime loss to Detroit on Monday night. "I don't know if there is any magic formula or special trick to get your mind ready and you're good to go. We'll get word on Eddie and then we'll play the game."
Lack was undergoing a series of tests at a nearby hospital into the night, according to the team, though he had feeling in his extremities.
Carolina is 7-0-4 in its last 11 games and is four points behind the Bruins with one game in hand.
"We have a board right there (in the locker room) that tells us the standings every day so it's hard not to see it; we walk past it 15 times a day," Faulk said. "So, you know where you are at and what you have to do, you know the number you think is going to get in (to the playoffs), but you just want to go out and play to win because anybody can go on a run and get in. We're on one now and we have to keep it going."
"Everyone is aware, this time of year everybody talks about it," added Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner, the hottest player in the league with 11 goals since March 9. "You can't go anywhere without knowing. You would have to make a conscious effort to block that stuff out and not know. For us, we look at coming to the rink every other day now and we have a new challenge in front of us and a new team, and we have to try to find a way to get two points."
Well, not exactly a new team Tuesday. It is Detroit yet again in a unusual back-to-back home meeting due to an ice issue at PNC Arena in late December that forced the postponement of the game. As a result, the Red Wings came to Raleigh for two consecutive games.
Detroit, in last place in the Atlantic Division, will likely miss the playoffs for the first time in 25 years, but you would never know it by the team's effort recently.
"I think our guys are playing hard and that's a credit to the character of this group," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "It's a group that understands what's at stake, even though we're not where we want to be."
Detroit has seven power play goals in its five recent wins, including one Monday night against the Hurricanes.
"Special teams have been the difference for us here in the last month and a half," Blashill said. "It is minuscule differences all season that flip your one-goal losses to one-goal wins."
