3 reasons Hurricanes have entered playoff hunt
Winners of four straight after a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, the Carolina Hurricanes now find themselves in a three-way tie for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins at 47 points.
After entering the season with lottery expectations, here's three reasons the Hurricanes have been able to creep up the standings:
Balanced attack
While All-Star defenseman Justin Faulk leads the team in scoring, the Hurricanes have counted on offensive contributions throughout their forward lines, and a number of players look to be hitting their stride in recent weeks.
After recording multiple points in only two of his first 38 games, Jordan Staal managed the feat on three consecutive outings ending Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets - when he scored the game-winning goal.
While Elias Lindholm and Kris Versteeg both saw three-game point streaks come to an end Thursday, Jeff Skinner picked up the slack with a goal and an assist as he appears to have put his disappointing 31-point campaign from a year ago behind him.
Yet to mention strong seasons from Eric Staal and the surprising Victor Rask, the Hurricanes depth up front will need to continue its strong play as the season winds on.
Blue-line development
As TSN's Travis Yost noted earlier this week, the performance from the Hurricanes' young defensemen is one of the biggest reasons to watch this team as they look to keep playing beyond the regular season.
Faulk, 23, has certainly been a revelation with 14 goals and 32 points so far, but a number of defensemen younger than the power-play specialist have all logged considerable minutes so far - including first-round picks Ryan Murphy and Noah Hanifin.
Whether the back end will be able to hold up through a long 82-game campaign is yet to be seen, but if Faulk keeps scoring and the other young blue-liners continue to develop, a wild-card spot is certainly within grasp.
Consistent goaltending
A position of great frustration through 2015, the Carolina goaltenders appear to have turned a new leaf in January.
Cam Ward is yet to lose in regulation through four starts in 2016, and in the past week he's strung together three consecutive wins for the first time since last February.
Meanwhile, after needing almost two months to pick up his second win in Carolina, offseason acquisition Eddie Lack has four wins and just one regulation loss since Dec. 11. He's also maintained a perfect career record against the Blues by improving to 6-0-0 with 23 saves in Thursday's win.
Time will tell if Bill Peters' squad can truly contend in the Metropolitan Division, but its recent play should certainly have fans in Raleigh optimistic about the team's future.