The Sprint To The Finish...

RALEIGH, N.C. - When the Carolina Hurricanes resume game action on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, it will kick off a seven-week bolt to the regular-season's finish line.

Set to play 25 games in just 47 days, taking them up to their finale on Apr. 14 on Long Island, the group starts the flurry with an eight-point advantage atop the Metropolitan Division standings. With important games happening on seemingly an everyday basis, things can, and will, change quickly.

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Of the remaining contests, just 10 are set to take place at Lenovo Center. Now featuring a newly-opened View Bar in the 300-level, the Canes have been one of the best teams on home ice this season. 21-8-2 at 1400 Edwards Mill Rd., their 44 points in the standings are tops among all Eastern Conference teams.

There are five back-to-back sets left, with just one of them (Mar. 28-29) taking place in Raleigh. Rod Brind'Amour's group has handled sets of two games in two days well thus far this season though, going 11-6-3 through their first 10 back-to-backs.

To Reset...

In case you forgot, the Canes rolled into their three-week break 8-0-2 in their last 10 games. Most recently, putting on a dominant shutout performance at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 5, a 16-save shutout for Brandon Bussi appropriately summed up his first "half" of the season.

Last losing in regulation on Jan. 13 in St. Louis, the 27-year-old has been nothing short of a godsend. Now touting a record of 23-3-1, "The Bus" has unquestionably become the team's go-to in net.

Ranking second among all NHL netminders with his 2.16 goals against average, his 23 wins are tied for third and his .869 high-danger save percentage trails only Ilya Sorokin (.882). Not bad for a guy claimed off waivers the week of opening night.

In front of him, nobody went into the Olympic break hotter than Andrei Svechnikov.

Rolling a career-best 19-point January right into the final few games leading up to the gap in the schedule, the 25-year-old winger has nine goals in his last 10 games. Now with 49 points on the season, he's already bested his production from last year (48 points) in 15 fewer games.

The Big Questions...

Will the Canes be able to stay healthy the rest of the way?

With a whopping 251 man games lost to injury already this season, the Canes have only had their true, "best available" roster for roughly 15 of their 57 games so far.

With fingers crossed, they hope most of their troubles are out of the way; however, there is a silver lining to being able to sit atop the division even with the pieces they've missed.

"What it's really done is given other guys opportunities that you'd never probably would've given, if we'd not have the injuries," Rod Brind'Amour said. "Not just one or two games where you're like, 'I'm not sure [about this guy], you had a long look at certain players and you know if we get in that jammer again, we have guys that know what they're doing and have the ability to help our team. So I think that's where's it's been a bonus."

Indirectly referencing Joel Nystrom, among others, the 23-year-old made his NHL debut on Oct. 23 and has played more games this season (37) than Mike Reilly (29) and Jaccob Slavin (17).

Can the power play remain productive?

Carolina's man advantage turnaround has been an offensive highlight of late.

Sitting 30th among all NHL teams on Dec. 2 at just 13.2%, they're 28-for-103 since, seventh-best among all clubs. Thanks, Jordan Staal.

"We're putting it all together, and we're getting good results. Before, people think we struggled, but we were getting chances every night," Shayne Gostisbehere said. "We're getting some bounces too, and that really helps. Those go over into the total picture. I think, for us, it's just bearing down, paying attention to the details, taking what they give us, and keep going."

What will Eric Tulsky and the front office do before the March 6 trade deadline?

As has been his motto since permanently taking over at the position in June 2024, Tulsky's going to keep working until the Canes "have the 20 best players in the world."

Last year, it was Logan Stankoven and Mark Jankowski coming aboard. What will it be this time around?

Here's what he had to say when the break started.

"This time of year, it's every day I'm on the phone. There are two things we need: We need players to be available, and we need the price to be something that we can do. I'm calling every day to see who is available and what the price is, and I'm trying to get it to where we something we can get done. You never know what's going to happen; it takes both sides. It's hard to control the market. But, we are shopping very aggressively, trying to find ways to bring in the pieces that will help us take steps forward."