When the Carolina Hurricanes were shut out by the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night, Canes fans feared the worst. Their closest playoff rivals now held the tiebreaker, and every other team around them won. The playoff race shrank considerably in one night and left us all with that eerie feeling of deja vu.
Fast forward 24 hours, and that feeling was eradicated by a sensational performance by Rod Brind’Amour’s team in defeating the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 at PNC Arena. This wasn’t a dominant performance, it wasn’t one that had Caniacs feeling smug and comfortable, but when a team isn’t playing well but can still see out games?