In what’s sure to be a strange and somewhat unpredictable battle, the Carolina Hurricanes will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight. So what exactly happens when the worst team in the league takes on the other worst team in the league?
Let’s start with Toronto. The team that bounces in and out of the playoffs each year doesn’t have a lot to go on. Niklas Hagman and Alexei Ponikarovsky each have seven goals, which leads the team right now. Phil Kessel has also been decent, scoring five goals for the team so far. They’ve only managed to win three games this season, although maybe they’ll have the advantage since TWO of the three were won on the road. On the other hand, they’ve lost five on the road and six at home, so that doesn’t do much to boost their chances.
The ‘Canes are almost in the same boat. They’ve had a stunning THREE wins at home- not a lot to write home about. However, their three wins have been at home which could give them an edge over the Leafs since it’s obviously where they’re playing better. Their goal scoring isn’t much better. Ray Whitney leads the team with six and there is three-way tie for five goals between Brandon Sutter, Tuomo Ruutu, and Jussi Jokinen. Until last week, Ruutu was on a ten-game scoreless streak.
I think I’m going to pick Toronto for this one. Not sure why, but I think it has something to do with the fact that I believe it will take a little more time for Carolina to come back from that 14-game losing streak. In any event, I wouldn’t put a whole lot of stock in this game. The only major accomplishment will be that one team will have four wins and will no longer be last place in the league.
-Alicia
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