Calling any single game must-win is a bit overdone until late March. A loss tonight would be disappointing, but followed by a win Saturday and a strong road trip after the break, it would not be the official end. This said, of the remaining 27 games there will be a number of real tough challenges playing elite teams on the road, fatigue-limited back-to-backs with travel and games like the Winnipeg loss Tuesday where things just do not go your way. And in the middle of the challenges, the schedule will offer a precious handful of games where the odds seem tilted in the Canes favor. If the team gives away those points, it will greatly expedite the point in the schedule when the Canes start playing must-win games.

Friday’s game against Florida is 1 of those games. The Panthers are a below average team. They are 4-6 in their last 10, tied for 27th overall in the NHL and rank between bottom 5 in goal scoring, goals allowed, power play and penalty kill. They also played and traveled last night. Friday’s game is as friendly as it gets schedule-wise. But the Hurricanes and their fans remember all too well from the disappointing home Calgary loss a few weeks back that the schedule does not award points. Points must be earned on the ice.

As an aside, the NHL’s schedule leading up to the break offers hope for a short Canes mini-burst that could propel them up the standings heading into the break. The Canes enter the weekend having fallen back to 6th place in the bunched up Metro Division after Tuesday’s loss, but the team has enough games in hand to catch everyone ahead of them (would need to win 2 GIH to tie Clu and 3 GIH to tie NYR). For Fri/Sat:
–The Rangers and Blue Jackets both play the 2nd half of back-to-backs against rested teams tonight, so it is reasonable to hope that they both lose.
–Only NJ from the Metro pack plays twice, so the Canes use a game in hand against everyone else with the chance to gain at least 2 points even if the other teams win their 1 game.
–With 2 wins and Friday night help, the Canes would likely enter the break 1-3 points out of both 2nd and 3rd place in the Metro Division but still with 2 games in hand against the teams above them.

But as is always the case, the only thing the Canes can control and focus on is their game tonight. My keys to the game:

1) Play with a desperate desire to build a 3-goal lead. In a game in which the Canes should have a physical advantage, this is not the game to come out tentative/safe. This is a game to aggressively and immediately exert your physical will on the game. The goal is not to play decent. The goal is not to be safe and sound. The goal is to completely overwhelm the Florida Panthers out of the gate and at least up until the point where you are winning by 3 goals.

2) The stars. Of late, the Canes top forwards have been pretty good overall when you look at scoring totals, but when you go game-by-game, it has been much more hot and cold with enough hot to offset the cold scoring average-wise but not winning hockey games-wise. The Canes received absolutely nothing scoring-wise from the top half of the roster in 2 recent losses that have the team coming in having lost 2 of its last 3. The group was not abysmal in those games, but this time of year it is all about production on the score sheet and points in the standings.

That is really it. The Canes can and need to bring a dominant performance. This it the kind of game you want to seize control of early, dominate and win going away. Better not to leave the decision to a couple plays in the 3rd period. A big lead early and rhythm across all 18 skaters could also enable Muller to spread the minutes more evenly and leave a little bit more in the tank for the 2nd half of the back-to-back set on Saturday.

Ideal is a Canes surge to 3-0 early followed by a methodical and balanced effort in the 2nd half of the game to cruise to a 4-1 win. But this time of year, I will gladly go it 1 game at a time, take nothing for granted and be thrilled with any kind of 2 points in the standings.

Twitter should have an official starter announcement soon (if I did not miss it already). Per my recent blog, for me it is about giving the team the best chance to win not taking unnecessary risks to go for a better path forward. I go with safe and solid Khudobin tonight and if he plays well tonight and is okay physically tomorrow morning, I come right back to him Saturday. Ward will need to get into the mix for the busy stretch run, but any momentum/rhythm gained from playing this weekend will be given right back with 2 1/2 weeks anyway. Why force it and risk the possibility for a rusty 1st game when you basically have to do it again anyway after the layoff?