Canes smash Thrash, inch closer to division title

On Friday night, the Hurricanes destroyed the Thrashers 7-1 and restored their division lead to a more comfortable four points. If the stars align correctly, the Hurricanes can clinch the division tonight. If the Canes can win at Tampa and the Capitals lose in regulation at Florida, Carolina will secure the division.

A fully detailed recap will come later, but it was the unusual suspects who did the heavy lifting in this game. Eric Staal got the game's first goal less than a minute in. After that, it was the less glamorous players. Joe Corvo had one goal, Tuomo Ruutu had two, Jeff Hamilton had two, and Trevor Letowski had a shorthanded goal. In addition to the shorty, Carolina notched five power play goals. It was the best power play performance since the 6-4 win against Detroit on the day after Thanksgiving in 2002.

Tonight's puck drop will be at 7:30. Although they swear that they don't do things like this, the Hurricanes will be scoreboard watching, as the Caps and Kitties have a 7:00 start.

The Bolts, like the Thrashers, have nothing to play for at this point. It showed last night, as the Thrashers were undisciplined and got dirty late in the game. I hope it doesn't happen again tonight.