It wasn’t too long ago that a matchup between the Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks featured a team perennially contending for Stanley Cups facing a team that largely couldn’t get out of its own way. That was again the case on Monday night at PNC Arena.
It’s just that the identities of the teams have changed wholesale in the past couple of years.
The Hurricanes scored goals on pinball deflections, from below the goal line and just about any other way Sebastian Aho wanted in taking a relatively easy 5-2 win over the Blackhawks that takes them two points closer to the Central Division crown.