Can goaltending and a formidable first-round opponent derail the Eastern Conference leaders' Cup dreams?
The Carolina Hurricanes are headed back to the postseason for the eighth straight season, and as the top team in the Eastern Conference, the Canes have secured home ice advantage for at least the first three rounds of the playoffs.
While things look pretty good for the Canes overall, what might hold them back this season?
Causes For Concern
Goaltending
The biggest concern for the Hurricanes this season is in goal.
Despite finishing with the second best record in the league, Carolina has really had their struggles in net, with a team save percentage of just 0.880, well below the league average of 0.889.
First-year phenom Brandon Bussi put together a really strong season, but has had quite a bit of struggles since the Olympic break.
In his first 27 games, Bussi had a 0.906 save percentage and a 2.2 goals against average.
But in the 11 games post Olympic break, he has just a 0.864 Sv% and 3.2 GAA.
And while Frederik Andersen has had one of his healthiest seasons in years, this has been one of his worst seasons in terms of save percentage and goals saved above expected.
The Canes also weren't able to get Pyotr Kochetkov into an NHL game to end the year, meaning he hasn't seen true action since December.
Carolina is in a bit of an awkward spot when it comes down to deciding who will be the guy this postseason, and this is really the one area of their game which could let them down.
However, both Bussi and Andersen finished the season strong even despite the Canes resting tons of regulars with Andersen posting a 2-0-0 record and a 0.942 save percentage and Bussi going 1-0-1 with a 0.942 save percentage.
Tough First Round Matchup
There probably isn't a harder first-round, wild card draw than the Ottawa Senators.
Despite where they finished this year, the Senators boast one of the league's best 5v5 squads with not many weaknesses throughout the lineup.
The Senators rank third in scoring chance share (54.76%) and have the league's best expected goals against numbers, meaning that they defend extremely well.
They also are a high-scoring squad, with the eighth highest goals per game (3.36) and eighth best power play (23.5%).
They have five 20-goal scorers (11 double-digit scorers) and five 50+ point players.
On top of that, they're a pretty physical group, with 10 players with 90+ hits on the year. They also are the top ranked team in terms of average height and weight.
Really, their biggest problem this season was that their goaltending bottomed out in the middle of the year.
Linus Ullmark had taken a month-long extended absence from the club and not a single backup netminder could must more than an 0.860 save percentage.
But after Ullmark's return and the signing of former Hurricane James Reimer, the Senators have righted the ship, with the ninth best team save percentage since Jan. 31.
It's an unlucky draw for Carolina, but you have to beat good teams if you want to raise Lord Stanley at the end of it all.
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