The Canes look to end a two game slide in their last road game before the Four Nations break
It’s been a busy few weeks for the Hurricanes. While the Canes have been dealing with what seems like non-stop games, they had to deal with a seismic trade that has vaulted them to a serious Stanley Cup contender but also saw them lose two long-time pieces. For good measure they’ve had a sickness sweep through the locker room that is wrecking havoc with the health of players at various times.
I mean, if there’s a scene from a movie that is appropriate to this situation in both a figurative and probably literal sense, it’s this one from Bull Durham. (Language warning in case you’ve never seen this classic)
The good news here is that it looks like the Canes are coming out on the other side. Yes, they lost 3-0 against the Jets on Tuesday but can we all agree that if not for the NHL’s refusal to be consistent on Goalie Interference that game would look a lot different? If the first goal had stayed on the board and the Canes were playing with a 1-0 lead instead of having to chase the game, and then they were able to safely pull the goalie down 2-0 late in the third who knows what happened?
With that said there was a lot to like about that game. The revamped Power Play should have actually scored one, and the Aho/Rantanen pairing with Jackson Blake has clearly developed a ton of chemistry. Not to mention the only scratch on Tuesday was in favor of giving young defenseman Scott Morrow a chance to draw in. Taylor Hall is also fitting in quite nicely. Don’t forget this two game losing streak is coming off the heels of a seven game points streak, with only one being an overtime loss.
So in an effort to put the last few days behind them, the Canes went on ahead and bolted Winnipeg after the game and woke up in St. Paul Wednesday. Then they went ahead and practiced in the home of the Wild. They’ll wake up in the same beds today, and knowing that there won’t be a morning skate means everyone on the squad will be able to maximize their rest prior to tonight’s game. With a late arrival back in Raleigh tonight and then an early game Saturday before the break, it’s probably the right call.
We’ll know with Rod Brind’Amour’s availability today at 4:15 if there will be any lineup changes. Scott Morrow wasn’t sent back to Chicago, and as the Canes have been in the habit of banking cap space one would think there’s a decent chance he plays again tonight. It’s probably also safe to assume that Frederik Andersen will be between the pipes as he hasn’t played since Saturday’s loss to the Kings.
Their opponent in the Minnesota Wild come into the game tonight third in the Central and safely in the playoffs—t’s just a matter of whether they’ll be the Central’s two, three, or end up in Wild Card one as they are within sight of the Dallas Stars but the Colorado Avalanche are riding their bumper hard. They’ve been a little shaky as of late. They followed a two game losing streak with a three game winning streak and then followed that with another two game losing streak, and in both those games they were shut out. They have not scored goal in a week.
There’s a big reason for that, of course. The Wild thought they were getting star Krill Kaprizov back after missing a month with a lower body injury, but after playing just two games the Wild announced he was having surgery last Tuesday. While he’s now on LTIR, he is expected to be back this season—but the Canes at least catch a break they’ll miss him now. Of course, that didn’t help back when the two teams met in Raleigh on January 4th. That was the uninspired effort sandwiched between the dominating 4-0 win against the Panthers and the overtime comeback win against the Penguins.
Thus tonight it’s another playoff matchup against two teams that were shut out by their opponents on Tuesday on the road. We’ll see if the Canes can Dig In for these last two before a well-deserved two weeks off for all but four of the players.
One other note—This is yet another “national” game that is an ESPN+/Hulu exclusive. If you use ESPN+ to watch the Canes anyway, just know you won’t be listening to Mike and Tripp. If you’re used to watching on FanDuel Sports Net, then you’ll need to grab your streaming remote.
So, here’s how to catch the action if you won’t be in St. Paul to watch live:
- Time: 7:30 PM Eastern
- Location: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
- Streaming: ESPN+/Hulu only—no linear TV. Mike Manaco will handle play-by-play while AJ Mleczo will handle color. John Buccigross, Ray Ferraro, Emily Kaplan, and Arda Öcal will be in the studio for the intermissions and game updates.
- Radio: Hurricanes Radio Network—99.9 FM in Raleigh, 730 AM in Charlotte, 107.5 FM in New Bern, and 107.5 in Greenville. Mike Maniscalco will handle play-by-play while Tripp Tracy will do color as only he can. Adam Gold will handle pre and postgame. Note-if you want to sync the video to the call from Mike and Tripp, just pull up 99.9 the Fan on a streaming device and since both are streaming they should sync up pretty well.
- Line: ML: CAR -162; PL: CAR -1.5 +164