from Rory Boylen of Sportsnet,

It’s a 12-game slate Saturday chock full of implications that will shape the playoff picture over the next week.

Among the East’s top storylines are Columbus turning back to Sergei Bobrovsky for the biggest game of their season, Carolina looking to recover from a terrible loss Friday, and Boston hoping to extend their point streak to 19 games.

In the West, we’re keeping an eye on Arizona and, to a lesser extent, Edmonton as they cling to playoff hopes over these last stages of the regular season, while a big injury to another bubble team has put them in a precarious position.

Here is your playoff outlook heading into Hockey Night in Canada Saturday:...

Team of interest: Carolina Hurricanes

No, not because of the storm surge — the Canes play on the road Saturday. We’re interested in how they respond to their worst loss of the season Friday night. The Hurricanes were listless and, dare we say, reminiscent of the team we’ve come to know over the past nine playoff-less seasons. The Winnipeg Jets, who themselves were coming off a one-sided defeat to Tampa Bay, had a 3-0 lead before the first period was even half over and cruised to an 8-1 win with backup Laurent Brossoit in net. Tonight, the Hurricanes play the Central’s other big hitter in Nashville. The last time they met, Carolina chased both of Nashville’s goalies en route to a big win.

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