Offense From Defense:Since American Thanksgiving, the Canes have received 61 points in 22 games from their blue line. That ranks third in the NHL during that timeframe, trailing only the Winnipeg Jets (72) and New York Rangers (65).
Patioretty's Status TBD:Playing in just his fourth game of the season after suffering a summer Achilles tendon tear, forward Max Pacioretty left Thursday's game during the first period and did not return. The team's official update shared that it was a lower-body injury unrelated to the previous Achilles issue. Given that the Canes did not practice on Friday, any indication of if he will play or not will come at Saturday's morning skate.
KK's Heating Up:With two assists on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena, Jesperi Kotkaniemi now has nine points in his last 11 games.
New Year, Same Fish:Since the calendar turned to 2023, Sebastian Aho has seven points in six games, leading the team.
The Best Leading The Best:The NHL announced the coaches for this year's All-Star Game on Wednesday,
naming Rod Brind'Amour as the leader of the Metropolitan Division for a second consecutive year
. Guiding the Canes to a record of 25-9-7, Brind'Amour will have at least one member of his roster, Andrei Svechnikov, with him for the event in Sunrise, FL on February 3-4.
On The Other Side:If you take the Canes off of Pittsburgh's December schedule, the team went 8-1-2. But since Carolina got the best of them twice within a four-game span, the Penguins have gone 2-4-1. With just 19 goals in their last seven games, only the Montreal Canadiens (17) have scored fewer. Bigger picture though, the Pens remain very much in the Metropolitan Division race. All-Star Sidney Crosby remains having a stellar season with 48 points in 40 games. Former Hurricane Brock McGinn has 15 points in the same amount of contests.
