As the NHL season moves forward and teams continue to move around in the official standings, one team is making some serious headway in the Metropolitan Division. The Carolina Hurricanes are sitting in second place, being just three points behind the New York Rangers

While it is not uncommon for teams to get off to a slow start in the regular season, the Hurricanes have seemed to completely change their team around. Going into the NHL’s holiday break in late December, Carolina was fifth in the Metropolitan Division, while being 11 points out of first place. This would also put the team into the category of borderline missing the playoffs this year. One thing that doesn’t help is the fact that Carolina is playing in a super competitive division, one where the next three teams are all within seven or less points of taking over first.

However, the Hurricanes have battled back into second place at the moment and are 6-0-1 in the span after their break.

Part of the Hurricanes success comes from the fact that forward Sebastian Aho, has had 16 points over that seven game span for the team. Carolina overall, is much more impressive offensively, as they have shot 30 times or more in four of these games. With this, they have scored five or more goals in five out of the seven games. It is clear that when the Hurricanes get their offense going, the winning just follows. The team has always been a tight-knit defensive group, but they become most dangerous when guys like Aho and Andrei Svechnikov provide scoring at the other end.

The Hurricanes have not shown many signs of slowing down, but Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour, is still focusing on the games at hand in his latest postgame press conference.

As Brind’Amour tries to emphasize the idea of “taking it one game at a time”, Carolina has put the entire league on notice with their recent stretch of games. It may not be long before we see the team take over the Metropolitan Division and even the entire Eastern Conference.

Carolina’s schedule gets tougher with games later this month against the Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, and Boston Bruins. With a strong two-way scheme currently implemented, however, they have a chance to win every night.