The Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils entered last night’s game tied for the most points in the Metropolitan Division. Their first head-to-head matchup of the season had plenty in the way of stakes, acting as a big litmus test for a pair of teams in very different situations trending in very different directions.
To the delight of the home crowd, the trends kept trending.
Carolina’s 4-1 win on home ice marked the club’s sixth consecutive win, their longest winning streak since the end of the 2021-22 season. They’ve secured at least one standings point in each of their last 12 games (10-0-2), dating all the way back to their overtime loss in Boston on November 25.