The Carolina Hurricanes (41-17-6) finish up their brief homestand tonight with a match against the St. Louis Blues (25-29-10).
The Canes have allowed 16 goals in their last four games but still have a 3-1 record for their trouble. They will be looking to tighten up the defense a bit against the Blues.
St. Louis is one of the lowest scoring teams in the NHL so this is a good place to start.
Carolina had a morning skate today and Ryan Henkel posted the lines as follows:
The Canes are currently in first place in the Eastern Conference by two points over the Sabres, with a game in hand. They are nine points over second place Pittsburgh in the Metropolitan Division.
With his goal on Tuesday night, Carolina rookie, Alexander “Boom” Nikishin set a new franchise record for goals scored for rookie defensemen with nine surpassing Justin “Queso” Faulk who had eight.
A local business would be smart to sign up the popular youngster to an ad campaign.
The blueliner leads the defense with 111 hits and is second on the team with 70 blocked shots, all this while being fifth in total ice time on the defense, averaging just over 19 minutes per game.
While his coach continually pushes working on his defense, he is tied for the second best plus/minus on the team with a (plus) +13. He has a long reach and a longer stick which he uses quite well in breaking up plays.
Nikishin was held out of the powerplay unit for a bit earlier in the season while the coaches tried out other defensemen at quarterback. When he finally got the chance he has shined and now has four powerplay goals in just 86 minutes of ice time during the man advantage.
According to NHL.com, he averages 2.78 goals per 60 minutes played while on the powerplay. On the other hand, Shayne Ghostisbehere averages 2.02 goals per 60. The number one powerplay quarterback has five goals scored in over 148 minutes of ice time.
Hopefully, this bodes well for the future of Carolina’s powerplay.
The Blues have had a rough season and are getting over the loss of a couple of regulars to the trade deadline, Justin Faulk and Brayden Schenn. They are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games and could still be be a tough opponent.
Here’s how to check out the action:
- Time: 7:00 PM ET
- Location: Lenovo Center, Raleigh. NC.
- TV: FanDuel Sports Network with Mike Maniscalco, play-by-play; Tripp Tracy, color analyst; Shane Willis, analyst; Hannah Yates, rinkside.
- Radio: 99.9 The Fan FM
