Carolina Hurricanes clinch first place in Metropolitan Division

Less than a week after they locked up a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the eighth consecutive year, the Carolina Hurricanes clinched the top spot in the Metropolitan Division with a 6-5 overtime win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.

The Hurricanes got an offensive explosion, as Andrei Svechnikov scored his 30th goal of the season while K’Andre Miller, Logan Stankoven, William Carrier and Taylor Hall also found the back of the net during a win that saw Jeremy Swayman chased from the Boston crease.

Carolina, which has been known for outstanding defense and an offense that has been solid but prone to dry spells during head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s tenure, has flipped the script this season.

The Canes find themselves in the top three in the NHL in goals scored but just sixth in the league in goals against, as they’ve compiled a 50-22-6 record with four games still to play in the regular season.

Carolina is jockeying with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres for the number one seed in the East, which would determine their matchup for the first round.

If the Canes wind up as the No. 2 seed, they’d likely be looking at a series against the same Bruins they defeated Tuesday. As the top seed, it would be whichever one of several teams looking for the last spot gets the job done in the closing week and a half.

Carolina has the third-longest active streak of making the postseason, as their eight trail the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning, who have nine apiece.

The Hurricanes have made the playoffs in every season under Brind’Amour, and they have won their opening series in each of those playoff runs. With seven consecutive years with a series win, this Carolina run trails only the Broad Street Bully Flyers (nine) and two different eras of the Montreal Canadiens (10) for the NHL record for consecutive playoff appearances with a series win.