The Carolina Hurricanes will look to bounce back from a sluggish effort in a loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday as they return home to take on the New York Rangers in a Metropolitan Division showdown.
With the flu bug going through the locker room and captain Jordan Staal sidelined, the Hurricanes put forth one of their weakest efforts of the season as they fell to the Sabres 3-1.
Despite the loss, Carolina remains in first place in the Eastern Conference, as they’re the only team in the conference
to reach the 30-point mark.
Their lead is quite small, however, as the entire conference except for Toronto and Buffalo is within six points of the Canes. That’s where the Rangers come in, as they are bringing up the rear of the Metro with an 11-11-2 record that still has them just six points behind the Hurricanes.
New York has excelled on the road this season while struggling massively at home, where the Hurricanes beat them 3-0 earlier this season in Pyotr Kochetkov’s first start of the year. That game marked the first goal scored by Nikolaj Ehlers in his Carolina career.
The up-and-down Rangers are playing much better structural hockey under new head coach Mike Sullivan than they’ve played in the past, but they’ve had trouble finding reliable scoring throughout their lineup. J.T. Miller and Alexis Lafreniere have been quite underwhelming in their production, with 12 points and 13 points so far respectively.
Adam Fox leads the group pin points from the blue line with 21, while Artemi Panarin has racked up 20 points in 24 games, and Mika Zibanejad is working on something of a bounce back season with 15 points in 24 contests.
We’re likely to see star goalie Igor Shesterkin between the pipes for the Blueshirts tonight, as this game is a big one for New York. Shesterkin is 8-8-2 on the year with a 2.50 goals against average and .909 save percentage.
Frederik Andersen looks like the guy for Carolina with Kochetkov back on the shelf. Andersen has gone quite some time without putting together a high-level start, and we’ll see if a familiar foe can get him back on track. The Dane is 10-6-3 with a .906 SV% in 19 career starts against the Rangers.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour told North State Journal’s Cory Lavalette that Staal is doubtful for tonight’s game. There was some question around Miller’s status after he missed Tuesday’s practice, but he was in his usual spot at the morning skate. If he does play, it would be his first career game against his former team.
Here’s how to check out the action:
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Location: Lenovo Center, Raleigh, NC
TV: FanDuel Sports Network
Streaming: FanDuel Sports App, ESPN+ out of market
Radio: 99.9 The Fan and affiliates
Odds: ML: CAR -200; PL: -1.5 +126
