The Carolina Hurricanes finally return to their home ice after a lengthy and troublesome six-game road trip to accommodate the North Carolina State Fair.
The results were more than acceptable, as the Hurricanes
swept California before taking one of three against the top teams the Western Conference has to offer, beating the Colorado Avalanche but losing to the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars.
It’s the Golden Knights on the docket in Raleigh on Tuesday night, as Carolina will look to avenge a 4-1 loss in Nevada. Sebastian Aho scored Carolina’s lone goal on assists from Seth Jarvis and Nikolaj Ehlers, but Pavel Dorofeyev’s beautiful seventh goal of the season and a multi-point effort from Ivan Barbashev proved too much.
While the team went 4-2-0 on the trip, injuries added a sour note. Forwards Eric Robinson and William Carrier are now out, and defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere and K’Andre Miller also sustained ailments, joining Jaccob Slavin on the list of sidelined defenders.
Gostisbehere practiced Monday and could return Tuesday night, as could goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, whose role has been handled admirably by preseason waiver claim Brandon Bussi.
Frederik Andersen will likely have the net regardless, since he was off on Saturday night in Dallas.
The Golden Knights are playing their third game in four nights, having swung through Florida to play the Panthers and Lightning on Saturday and Sunday. Goalie Adin Hill is still out for them after his injury that occurred against Carolina.
Akira Schmid will likely have the net for Vegas tonight after he lost to Florida Saturday. New backup Carl Lindbom took the loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Star center Jack Eichel leads Vegas with 16 points, while Dorofeyev still leads the team with seven goals. Mark Stone holds the lead in assists, but he remains out with an injury.
FanDuel Sports Network for a unique puckdrop time at 6:30 PM as the league pulls off its annual Frozen Frenzy— a night in which all 32 NHL teams are in action with staggered start times to ensure that there is game action going on at all times of the evening and night.
