Carolina Hurricanes: Cup Defense Threatened?

I would fairly say that this Carolina team isn’t as good as last years team due the well played goalie platoon they had in place with Marty Gerber and Cam Ward. Gerber is doing wonders for Emery’s play somehow.

They rushed Ward a little but ultimately in the long run I feel playing time can only help Ward as he has picked up his play. The Carolina Hurricanes to me are both a good and bad team. Their roster is filled with impressive players but it seems sometimes when I watch them, their play is not on par with what my expectations are.

The Hurricanes supposedly have a easy rest of the schedule so let’s ch-check it out:
Tonight vs. Washington
Saturday vs. San Jose
March 27 @ Toronto
March 28 @ Philadelphia
March 30 vs. Tampa Bay
April 1st @ Florida
April 3rd @ Tampa Bay
April 6th vs. Atlanta
April 7th vs. Florida

I expect them to win vs. Washington, Philadelphia for sure but all the other games are toss-ups. Why? Well when you face teams that are in your division and there is a natural rivalry they don’t go down easy. Florida has played a lot of teams tough down the stretch and I don’t expect this to be easy. If Carolina splits the 6 important games (I expect them to lose vs. SJ) it will be very close. This schedule seems easy with the uneducated eye if you see teams like Florida and if Carolina carelessly looks ahead of their opponents expect them to be joining Edmonton with the golfing.