The Canes still have a big reason to win tonight

2 PM update:

After the morning skate, it appears that Rod Brind’Amour has opted for “rest” over “rust.” In a series of tweets by team reporter Walt Ruff, the lines for the morning skate were drastically different and several regulars weren’t even dressing. Later, Brind’Amour confirmed the plan tonight was to sit several regulars and allow for the debut of Jackson Blake and Bradly Nadeau. The tweets are below, followed by the original post:

With a first round meeting against the Islanders already locked up, it looks like the #Canes will be prioritizing the health of their top dogs for tonight's game in Columbus.

It's an abnormal-looking group at morning skate inside Nationwide Arena, but here's what I see -… pic.twitter.com/SJlpjKOKO0
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) April 16, 2024

The #Canes have recalled Max Comtois and Dylan Coghlan from the American Hockey League.

Both are expected to be available tonight in Columbus.https://t.co/4ZdFLjR4mB
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) April 16, 2024

Rod Brind'Amour confirms that it will be debut day for Jackson Blake and Bradly Nadeau!

"It's a good experience. I hope they play well, obviously, and have a great memory. That's really what it's about for this game." pic.twitter.com/EBSrvsRFiK
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) April 16, 2024

Now official, players not dressing for the #Canes tonight in Columbus:

• Sebastian Aho
• Frederik Andersen
• Jake Guentzel
• Seth Jarvis
• Brett Pesce
• Jaccob Slavin
• Jordan Staal
• Andrei Svechnikov

It is expected that Max Comtois (#44) will play in his first game… pic.twitter.com/479WOEG1Xi
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) April 16, 2024

——

So it’s Hurricanes versus the Islanders starting this weekend.

Thanks to the sequence of events of the games last night, the New York Rangers secured the Metropolitan Division title, as well as the Presidents’ Trophy for the season. They’ll be the top seed for the playoffs, and they await the winner of the second Wild Card. Also last night, the other New York team—the Islanders—won and secured third place in the Metro meaning they’ll face off against the Hurricanes in Round One.

The easy thing to think is that the Canes come into Columbus tonight with nothing to play for, but that isn’t really the case.

Carolina goes into tonight’s game with 111 points, two ahead of Dallas and Boston for second place in the league. Second is important because home ice is determined by points, not by seed, so while the Canes wouldn’t have home ice for Round Two against the Rangers, they would have it against any other team—including the Western Conference should they make it all the way to the Cup Final. It would have been nice to have it against the Rangers, but considering how the Canes started the season, to even be in it this long speaks to just how strong they’ve been since December. Anyway, with a win the Canes secure that second place spot.

There’s also the layoff to consider. The more players sit tonight, the more of them that will go into the first game of the playoffs having not played meaningful hockey for a week—and we’ve seen what this team looks like with some rust. They’ll also be playing a team in the Islanders who’ve won seven of their last eight to lock in that third place slot.

So with all of that in mind, plus the integration of new players Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov, it wouldn’t be shocking if the team looks a little closer to what their playoff form would be. The only exception may be between the pipes. Spencer Martin hasn’t seen any action in a while, Pyotr Kochetkov is coming off being battered a couple of times in Chicago, and Frederik Andersen has shown he can sit for a week and be fine. As both have shown the ability to play well with rest, it wouldn’t be shocking if both get the night off and Martin gets a chance against the team that let him go earlier this year.

It will also be interesting to see if Jackson Blake and Bradly Nadeau get their first NHL start tonight. Coach Rod Brind’Amour can still play the top lines as if he wants them to go at full speed, but the two college signees can still get one bit of taste of the NHL level before they effectively practice as part of the Taxi Squad for the playoffs. Columbus is already using the game as a chance to look at tomorrow, their draft pick Gavin Brindley just signed from Michigan, and he is expected to play tonight.

The Canes just saw these Blue Jackets last Sunday, a fairly sleepy 3-0 win in the regular season finale at PNC. Still, it was a very important game that could be titled “How Svech got his groove back. A goal just 17 seconds into the first period seemingly snapped Andrei Svechnikov out of a funk he had been in, and it led to him pulling off another Lacrosse goal two days later in Boston. He’s tallied three assists since then, and is on a four game streak, seemingly getting going just in time for the postseason.

Speaking of the Lacrosse goal, if you haven’t seen ESPN’s feature on the move, check it out below. Svech gets his due and the highlights were clearly updated to include his move from just a week ago.

81 games down and tonight is it before the real season begins. Enjoy the last stree-free game for a while.

In case you aren’t in Columbus to catch the game, here’s how you catch the action.

Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
TV: Bally’s Sports South, Mike Maniscalco on Play-by-play, Tripp Tracy doing color, and Hanna Yates doing reports rinkside
Radio: 99.9 The fan, Adam Gold pre and post game host
Jersey: White
Lines: Moneyline: Canes -148/Blue Jackets +124, Puck Line: Canes -1.5 -+164/Blue Jackets +1.5 -198, O/U 6, Over -105, Under -115 (Updated 3:42 PM to reflect lineup changes)