Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins did not make any major changes to the squad before the start of the season and it’s even more surprising what happened to this squad, which has been very dominant in the last two seasons. Although they save their power for the season finish, they could easily stay in the playoffs without qualifying if they were to continue as in the first part of the championship. Currently, they occupy ninth place in the Eastern Conference. Somehow they do not manage to record a longer winning streak, as has been the case in previous seasons.
At the beginning of the new calendar year they finally started to play better and recorded four wins in a row. First they were better away against the Islanders and then home to Boston, Detroit and the Rangers. Since all opponents were from the upper half of the table, it was believed that the penguins have finally found in the right form of play. However, they lost in the last three rounds two defeats against Anaheim and San Jose Sharks. Both matches were denied away. Now they play in front of their own fans, where they deliver good games lately.

Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes have played nine games in the new year and only three wins. It is interesting that they drew a clear 4-0 win away to Pittsburgh. Nobody expected the Hurricanes to deliver such a good match. However, they conceded four defeats in the following five duels. Two rounds ago they played away against Detroit.