The Carolina Hurricanes, (11-24-7) will take on the Colorado Avalanche, (24-14-6) tonight with the exact same lineup they used last night in Nashville.  Cam Ward will be in net again for the Canes.

Andrew Alberts will not face any disciplinary action for his hit on Steve Sullivan last night and will also play. 

Home has not been very sweet recently for the Hurricanes as they have lost four games in a row at the RBC.  Their last home win was against Florida on December 19.  They also have a 1-6-1 record so far this season in the last of back to back games.

The Canes lost to the Avs earlier this year in Colorado in the midst of their 14 game losing streak.  Tuomo Ruutu hit Darcy Tucker from behind in that game and was subsequently suspended for three games.

The Avs last played on Long Island where they suffered a 3-2 loss to the Islanders on Wednesday night.  For more information about them, check out Mile High Hockey, another fine SBN blog.

To revisit the lines, they will start off as follows:

• Cullen, Whitney, Ruutu
• Sutter, Jokinen, Tlusty
• Dwyer, Boychuk, Kostopoulos
• Yelle, Brind'Amour, Samson

Expect them to be shuffled though as the coaching staff sees fit.  It might be nice to see Samson moved up on another line, to see what he can do alongside more speed.

Several injured players took the ice before the morning skate today, but there were no updates about their status.

The puck drops at 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast by FS Carolinas.  99.9 The Fan will have the audio.  We will have the open thread here starting at 6:30 and I will be reporting live from the rink.  

Giddy-up!