The Wraparound: Hurricanes look to stave off elimination

The Wraparound is your daily look at the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. We’ll break down each day’s matchups with the all-important television and live streaming information included.

This might be it for the Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators. Both teams are facing elimination heading into their respective games tonight. Will we see two Game 7s on Wednesday? Will we even get one? We’ll find out soon enough.

The ‘Canes have the luxury of playing this do-or-die game at home, as they’ll look to bounce back against the Washington Capitals (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, live stream). But in order for them to extend this series, they’re going to have to turn in a much better effort than they did in Game 5 on Saturday night.

“We were bad from start to finish, really,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said after Game 5, per the News & Observer. “It was tough to pick out a guy I thought had a good game. This time of year you need everybody on-board and for whatever reason we were all just a step behind and the score was indicative of the game.

“In every aspect of the game we were outplayed. Their best players were their best players and ours were not. We weren’t beating anybody (in Game 5).”The first thing the Hurricanes are going to have to fix, is their penalty kill, which allowed the Capitals to score three times on four attempts. If they can’t find a way to improve in that area, their chances of living to fight another day will be close to nothing.On a positive note, the home team has won every game in this series. So, either that trend continues or a team is due to win a game on the road. One thing is certain, Carolina will have to win a game on the road if they’re going to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Getting some kind of production from Sebastian Aho would also increase the Hurricanes’ odds of forcing a Game 7. The 21-year-old, who led the team in scoring with 83 points in 82 games during the regular season, has a respectable three points in five games in this series. But if you take a closer look at Aho’s numbers, you’ll see that he only has one assist in the three games that have been played on the road.

[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Game 6: Predators at Stars, 8:30 p.m. ET (Dallas leads 3-2): As we mentioned before, the Predators have everything to lose tonight. In order to extend this series, they’ll have to find a way to win in Dallas. Nashville needs to find a way to stop Dallas’ top line if they want any chance of winning tonight. Getting the ideal matchup on the road is easier said than done, which means Peter Laviolette will have his work cut out for him in Game 6. (CNBC, live stream)

PHT’s 2019 Stanley Cup playoff previews
Capitals vs Hurricanes
Bruins vs. Maple Leafs
Predators vs. Stars
Sharks vs. Golden Knights

• Power Rankings: Why your team won’t win the Stanley Cup
• NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round 1 schedule, TV info

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at [e-mail] or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.