It has to be difficult this time of year for high-level athletes to find motivation to play when the playoffs have been off the radar for about two months. And I understand Coach John Tortorella’s point that there is always something to play for, and these guys have millions of reasons to play hard each night no matter what is at stake (that’s my take, not the coach’s, BTW).

It was certainly evident in Monday’s home finale against Atlanta that neither team looked to be too interested in putting forth a top-level effort. There were plenty of shots, but not a whole lot of Grade-A scoring chances for either team.

Tonight, however, it’s a much different story. And Tortorella said he has already addressed the situation with the team in the morning meeting and will do so again in the pre-game meeting - Carolina is going to come hard and if Tampa Bay doesn’t show up they will get steamrolled. Not to mention the fact that there has to be some sort of pride in taking out a team that is fighting for something, as the Hurricanes are. After dropping a game to the Capitals on Tuesday, a game that could have clinched the division title for Carolina, the Hurricanes will no doubt play desperate as they now are staring at the possibility of not even making the playoffs now with two games to go. Is this what parity brings to the league? Wow, crazy situation with plenty of spots not having been wrapped even with only a few days left in the regular season.

Anyway, Mike Smith in goal tonight. He took his option and didn’t skate this morning, but it had nothing to do with his left knee. There will no lineup changes from Monday’s game against Atlanta, which means Shane O’Brien, Andre Roy and Karl Stewart are out.

Sounds like Cam Ward will once again be in net for the Canes, at least according to Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer. Also, Justin Williams is out after knocking his back out last night in his first game back from a knee injury. Talking about when it rains it pours for a guy!!!!

Tortorella talked a lot this morning about the play of Matt Smaby in recent games, and the 18 to 20 minutes of ice time is a reflection of how Smaby as played. The top four guys right now are Alex Picard with Filip Kuba (the pairing used against the top lines right now) and Dan Boyle with Smaby. Brad Lukowich and Dan Boyle are the other pairing. Torts said he likes how Smaby has been physical in the corners and his positioning has been pretty good.

Tortorella also revealed that Jeff Halpern will be joining Team USA for the upcoming World Championships, although he admitted that maybe he wasn’t supposed to tell us that!!!

FIRST INTERMISSION

Gotta love the fans in Carolina. OK, you really don’t have to love them, but I do think it’s pretty cool that they tailgate before games. When I was up here for the last game I saw on group pulling out the KFC; today I saw a kid dressed up in goalie gear guarding a net. And they tailgate even in the colder weather, which it was a couple of weeks ago when I was up here.

But here’s one thing I don’t like about the fans, I think they are a bit cheesy inside the arena. First off, during the Star Spangled Banner, they yell out “RED’’ during one of the verses. So could a few other teams in the league, like the ‘RED’ Wings. Come, be original. At least in Florida they yell out “ROCKET’’ from the days of Pavel Bure, and in Dallas they yell out “STARS’’ for the, uh, Stars and in Atlanta they yell out “NIGHTS’’ in honor of the former minor league team the Atlanta Knights.

I’m also not a fan of the jeer they seem to do in the South (and it was started by Boston fans during the 1986 World Series, but not like this) when they jeer out the name of the opposing goaltender - SMIIIIITH . . . SMIIIIITH . . . SMIIIIITH . . . YOU SUCK’’ Very kindergartenish if you ask me.

One other thing about this building, other than it’s really cold, is the John Deer Tractor paint job on the zamboni’s - it’s very stereotype, but it looks cool!!!

I wondered internally this morning when it was revealed that Mike Smith was going to start tonight, especially after the game Karri Ramo played against the Canes on Saturday. I wasn’t crazy about the first goal Smith let in, a far post shot from the side of the right circle. Very Holmqvist-Grahame like there. Of course, if Vinny Lecavalier rubs out Eric Staal inside the Carolina zone when he had the chance, the play doesn’t move up the ice like that. Nice passing play on Marty St. Louis’ goal. It was one of those moments where you are about to curse both Vinny and Jussi Jokinen until they find Marty open for a shot into a virtually open net.

Poor clearing out in front of the net on the second Carolina goal. With Chad LaRose and Trevor Letowski both in the crease, they each got a couple of whacks before LaRose smacked it into the net.

SECOND INTERMISSION

Well, the way things are going Tampa Bay and Atlanta might be jockying for position when the two teams meet in the season finale on Saturday. Uh, that’s position for the draft lottery . . . Of course, if Tampa Bay takes another setback tomorrow night in Washington, then Saturday’s game truly becomes meaningless as the Thrashers are three points ahead of the Lightning in the standings....

Real bad bounce on the fourth goal as a dump-in ricocheted off the partition of the glass as Smith was heading behind the net. As Lou Pinella often says, “Ah, what are you going to do?’’

Only complaint I would have is that Tampa Bay needs to keep Carolina out of its goal crease. The Hurricanes have constantly been in the crease, that was the case on the second Carolina goal. The third goal, somebody came crawling out of the actually net itself, and in fact was in the net before the puck (I guess that’s legal?) and then on another play, Jeff Halpern cross-checked the heck out of Ryan Bayda sending him sprawling into the net. Unfortunately, Bayda fell right on top of Smith’s bad knee. Smith took exception, even though it was Halpern he sent him flying, and gave Bayda a couple of punches while in the net.

Oh, and one more thing about the fans here in Carolina . . . it’s kind of annoying how every time a penalty is called on the opposition, the bleacher bums up here in the nosebleed section yell out , “Cheaters Never Win’’ and when a call is made against the Hurricanes, they have some comments for the ref which I can’t quite deciper. Seems ironic that the team which has around 50 more power play opportunities than any other team should be making wise-mouth comments toward the officiating. But, oh, well. On to Washington.

T-minus two games and counting. And if anybody is heading to Disney World for Spring Break, look for me starting on Tuesday. I’ll be the one with a big smile on my face despite having four kids in tow (that’s not a reflection on my kids, but not too many others with four kids are probably smiling all that much at Disney, if you know what I mean!!!)