The Canes have not found the reset button yet.
Tonight at the Lenovo Center, an abysmal February mercifully ends. March will be a critical month for the Carolina Hurricanes, and the matchup against the last-place team in the Eastern Conference must be a hard reset for the Canes.
Buffalo travels to Raleigh on a different trajectory. The Sabres lost just one game in February and have won six of their last seven. Over the past ten games, Buffalo has been one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference.
Tage Thompson, who leads the Sabres in goals and points, jumpstarted Buffalo’s hot streak with a hat trick on January 28. Thompson has 11 points in his last six games. He missed one game due to a Stefan Noesen hit in their win over New Jersey.
Linemates Alex Tuch and Jason Zucker are also playing well, tallying nine and eight points over the last seven games.
Captain Rasmus Dahlin had a six-game point streak come to an end Tuesday night, racking up 12 points during this recent stretch. With 46 points this season, he ranked seventh in scoring by a defenseman.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will likely get the nod in net. The Finnish goaltender has played in 41 games this season, carrying the load for Buffalo. Luukkonen is 20-14-4 with a 2.97 goals against average and a .895 save percentage.
The Canes have had an awful February, dropping five of six games. On Tuesday, they played one of their worst games in recent memory, a 4-0 shutout loss to Montreal.
There are valid concerns about lines and pairs from the armchair coaches across the internet.
Mikko Rantanen’s lack of production has sparked trade rumors. This is certainly causing unrest among the Caniacs, and one must wonder if it is distracting them in the locker room.
Below are the projected lines and pairs, although there may be plenty of shuffling during the game, for better or worse. Pyotr Kochetkov is in the starter’s crease.
The #Canes are on the ice ahead of Whalers Night against the Sabres.
Pyotr Kochetkov is in the starter’s crease. He was fantastic on last year’s edition of the theme night.
Svechnikov – Aho – Rantanen
Martinook – Staal – Jarvis
Hall – Jost – Blake
Robinson – Kotkaniemi -… pic.twitter.com/mGln4cDlQY— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) February 27, 2025
Tonight is Whalers Night at Lenovo Center. The Canes will wear white Hartford Whalers throwback uniforms.
Time to power up the machine… pic.twitter.com/hXsmwIFIF0
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 27, 2025
Here’s how to check out the action:
- Time: 7:00 PM ET
- Location: Lenovo Center, Raleigh, NC
- TV: FanDuel Sports Network South with Mike Maniscalco, play-by-play; Tripp Tracy, color analyst; Hanna Yates, in-game reporter; Shane Willis, analyst.
- Radio: 99.9 The Fan
- Line: ML: CAR -230; PL: CAR -1.5 +114