The North Carolina State Fair opens up their gates on Thursday, Billie Eilish will take up residency in Lenovo Center for two nights, and thus the Carolina Hurricanes will continue their extended absence
from Raleigh by facing off against the Anaheim Ducks. The game will face off from the Honda Center at 10 PM Eastern on FanDuel Sports Network.
The Canes are 3-0-0 on the season and looking to continue their undefeated start against an Anaheim team that some—such as Hurricanes color commentator Tripp Tracy—feel is in the hunt for the playoffs and will likely be a step up in competition from the San Jose Sharks team the Canes beat on Tuesday.
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Carolina will see the return of Frederik Andersen between the pipes as backup Brandon Bussi was stellar in his first NHL start. Bussi stopped 16 of 17 shots, and kept the Canes in the game while they got their footing against a rebuilding Sharks team. Once the Canes figured things out, though, they poured it on. As the offense seemed to start clicking when Rod Brind’Amour swapped Andrei Svechnikov and Taylor Hall, expect that setup to stay the same Thursday. What isn’t known is whether or not Mark Jankowski will draw in again or if Jesperi Kotkaniemi will slip back into the center position of the line with Svechnikov and Eric Robinson.
The Canes will also look to see if the Sebastian Aho/Nikolaj Ehlers/Seth Jarvis line will be able to continue to grow. The trio has the makings of a dominant line, but communication is still a little short as Ehlers has yet to pot a goal in the first three games. Still, scoring hasn’t been a problem for Carolina as they have averaged five goals a game over the first three contests.
On the other side is an Anaheim squad that is looking to get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2018. The Ducks had a busy June while the hockey world was getting ready for a loaded offseason. They first acquired Chris Kreider from the New York Rangers, having him join his old teammate Jacob Trouba, then traded Trevor Zegras for Ryan Poehling, and then finally acquired a goalie familiar with breaking long playoff droughts—Petr Mrazek.
Anaheim is 2-1-0 on the young season. They had a slow start by dropping their opener to Seattle, then won a wild one in San Jose when Nedeljkovic made probably a couple of the worst plays a goalie could make. The Ducks won that game in Overtime, and just barely avoided a second straight extra frame thanks to a Penguin DOGPOG (delay of game-puck over glass) penalty with less than two minutes left. Kreider scored near the start of the man advantage—his second goal of the game and both on the power play—to have the Ducks secure the win over Pittsburgh Tuesday Night.
Look for Mrazek to get the start, making him the second straight fomer Canes goalie the team will see after Alex Nedeljkovic started for the Sharks on Tuesday.
The two teams split the pair of games last season, with each team winning on the road.
Get your nap in and have your coffee ready for another late night of Canes After Dark.
