The Carolina Hurricanes don’t appear to be any juggernaut this year in the NHL, but there is one area that they have been far more successful than any other NHL team this season: Staying out of the penalty box.
Plenty of monumental things happened last night, with the Oilers clinching their first playoff berth in 11 years and the Red Wings being elminated from playoff contention for the first time in 25 years. A blog, Driving Play, noticed something else last night, that the Hurricanes may be on a record setting pace.
So far this season, the Carolina Hurricanes have one of two totals in penalty minutes, either 448 (According to NHL.com) or 424 (According to Hockey Reference). Regardless of which one you trust, either one of these numbers has them on pace to set the record for fewest PIM in a season (490 by NHL.com, 464 by Hockey Reference). The next closest in the modern day NHL history (After 1967) is the Minnesota Wild in 2015-16, with 545 PIM according to NHL.com (Hockey Reference only goes back to 1987-88, but has the same team as the next closest with 525).
The Hurricanes even have less than many of the teams that only played half a season in 2012-13.
To put all of those numbers in context, Jordan Staal is the leader on the team in PIM, with just 34 PIM.
