Hurricanes Plan Major Line Shuffle In Vancouver

by Bob Wage on Oct 17, 2010 2:32 PM EDT

The Carolina Hurricanes continue with the "mother of all road trips" tonight as they take on the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. It didn't seem long ago that the team was in St. Petersburg and then Helsinki. But they are on the other side of the planet now, several time zones removed from where they opened their season just 10 days ago.

Considering the heavy travel, the team has played pretty well as they bring a 2-1 record with them to Vancouver.

Expect to see some line changes when you turn on the tube to watch the game tonight. John Forslund has reported from his Twitter account that Jeff Skinner will be moving to center and Jussi Jokinen will play wing on Eric Staal's line. Patrick O`Sullivan also returns to the lineup and will play alongside Brandon Sutter.

Here are what the lines are projected to look like, at least to start out:

Staal, Jokinen, Cole
Sutter, O'Sullivan, Ruutu
Skinner, LaRose, Samsonov
Dwyer, Kostopoulos, Bowman

Zac Dalpe is the odd man out and will be a healthy extra.

The defensive pairings have been a point of contention for several fans, but there has been no word about changing those up. Joe Corvo and Joni Pitkanen seem to have trouble generating any chemistry between them, so it would seem that the coach would eventually need to do some tweaking there as well. We will see.

Brett Carson was recalled yesterday so that the team could have an extra body on the blueline if needed and he will also be a scratch tonight.

Cam Ward gets the nod in net.

Many experts around the league are picking the Canucks to win the Cup this summer, but we all know that high expectations don't count for much on the ice. Last year the Hurricanes were expected to be a playoff team by most, but promptly went on an early season 14 game winless streak.

A look at the Canucks after the jump:

Vancouver is currently 1-2-1. They have a shoot out loss to the Kings, a win over Florida, a loss to Anaheim, and a most recent 4-1 loss to Los Angeles on Friday night. They will be hungry for points and will feel the pressure to impress in front of the home faithful.

Their starting lines should be:

Sedin, Sedin, Raymond
Kesler, Hanson, Tambellini
Malhotra, Torres, Samuelsson
Glass, Rypien, Schaefer

The defense is highly regarded and includes: Keith Ballard, Kevin Bieksa, Christian Ehrhoff, Andrew Alberts, Dan Hamhuis, and Alexander Edler.

((UPDATE)) Ballard is out, Aaron Rome is in for Vancouver blueline.

~~Roberto Luongo~~ will most likely be taking on Ward in net.

((UPDATE)) According to the Province, Cory Schneider will get the start.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2010 - Cory Schneider	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2010 - Cam Ward	2	125	2	0		4	1.92	71	67	.944	0

For more information about the Canucks, check out Nucks Misconduct, our SBN affiliate.

The Hurricanes won last year's matchup between the teams, 5-3 at the RBC. Eric Staal has 6 points in five career games against the 'Nucks.

Jeff Skinner has the longest current point streak going for the Hurricanes and has assists in two straight games.

Tonight's action will start at 9 Eastern and will be broadcast by the regulars, FSN Carolinas and 99.9 The Fan. We will have the open game thread starting up at 8:30.

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Comments

Glad to see Staal and the Juice reunited, but I’m worried about Skinner centering a line.

Still not a crook!

by TrickyD26 on Oct 17, 2010 2:36 PM EDT reply actions

I am suprised a little that Ward didnt get the night off. I thought that they could get Peters some work tonight and give Ward an extended period of time off.

by letsgocanes on Oct 17, 2010 2:42 PM EDT reply actions

Luongo getting a rest tonight?

Thats what it sounds like via Nucks Misconduct website……Can anyone confirm that?

by letsgocanes on Oct 17, 2010 2:45 PM EDT reply actions

Cory Schneider should be in

Confirmation here:
http://twitter.com/reidder/statuses/27656583543

here is the tweet: Cory Scneider starts tonight. But my count a healthy Luongo has only missed 4 home games in the last 3 seasons.

Interesting that Luongo is not in the net. I have also noticed that he seems to play in almost all home games.

by MHodak on Oct 17, 2010 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions

also confirmed here

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Schneider+help+ease+Luongo+workload+starting+Sunday+night/3685004/story.html?cid=megadrop_story

Editing Manager of CanesCountry.com

by Bob Wage on Oct 17, 2010 4:04 PM EDT up reply actions

A 3rd line (usually considered the shutdown line) with 3 players under 5’10"… The biggest of which is an 18 year old kid who will be expected to Center, despite showing pretty much zero face-off proficiency thus far… Playing against one of the best face-off teams in the league with a very big, imposing lineup.

Sounds like Maurice.

by JussiJuice on Oct 17, 2010 4:30 PM EDT reply actions

But everyone knows our 2nd line is our shutdown line. I agree that Skinner should be a winger and Dalpe should center the line with LaRose moved to the 2nd or 4th lines for defense/energy/pest. If it wouldn’t put 3 rookies together, I might put Bowman on the 3rd line, too.

by Chuck Burns on Oct 17, 2010 5:33 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I think it more depends on who gets matched against who. In my opinion, our 3rd line doesn’t look like it would fair well against any of Vancouver’s top-9. The Sedins would probably destroy them offensively, the Kesler line would dominate them defensively, and the Malhotra line is a serious, gritty, veteran 3rd line with one of the best FO Centers in the league.

by JussiJuice on Oct 17, 2010 5:38 PM EDT up reply actions

The Kesler line will likely match up to our Staal line while we will try to match Sutter versus the Sedins. So Skinner and company will just have to be quicker. Not that it will be easy, but they will also be mostly against their 3rd defense pairing, and while Alberts is a hitter, we also know how slow he is.

by Chuck Burns on Oct 17, 2010 5:55 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Maybe they figured that Malhotra was going to beat any Center FO-wise we throw at them, so why not the Rookie. I just hope they keep their heads up… That is a very gritty 3rd line.

by JussiJuice on Oct 17, 2010 6:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Skinner, Larose, Samsonov line?

Why would Mo want to play 3 small forwards together? The only thing I can think of is they might have a speed advantage. I doubt this line is gonna stick together for to long.

by keebler elf on Oct 17, 2010 5:05 PM EDT reply actions

No offense intended, but I do have to say I LOL’d when I read your comment and then saw your user name.

Phoblographer and Finn Aficionado
SISU

by Jamie Kellner on Oct 17, 2010 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions

lol

by hotchipsnsalsa on Oct 17, 2010 8:16 PM EDT up reply actions

If they get matched up against Malhotra – Torres – Samuelsson all night I fear they will get eaten alive. That is a big, strong, veteran 3rd line with one of the best faceoff specialists in the league.

by JussiJuice on Oct 17, 2010 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions

The only thing i can see of this 3rd line is that it would be a very good puck posession line.

chip it in deep, either larose or skinner can get down there and fish out posession, and then either skinner or samsonov can dangle around the boards and create a really good cycle with a lot of posession in vancouver’s zone.

For my money, after the cycling, skinner eventually walks it off the corner boards and shoots, scoring his first career NHL goal against an unproven NHL goalie.

by ECUCanesFan on Oct 17, 2010 5:35 PM EDT reply actions

Hopefully they can get that far without being dominated physically. All 3 are pretty easily knocked off the puck and Vancouver boasts an extremely solid top-9.

I really hope Skinner’s efforts pay off for him tonight. It just seems like it would be easier for him to get chances if he had a bigger body like Staal, Ruutu, or Cole making space for him to get off that shot.

by JussiJuice on Oct 17, 2010 5:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Or even Bowman or Dalpe but given your assessment of Vancouver’s top nine, I don’t think we want 2 rookies on the same line.

by Chuck Burns on Oct 17, 2010 6:22 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I smell trouble with those lines. Also I worry that Peters will never play. Just sit over there on the bench and rust. I’d rather have him in Charlotte.
I am preemptively burning some onions, but I don’t know who that helps…
Ahem… Go team!
:D

Want. Hockey. Now.

by Andrea's evil twin on Oct 17, 2010 6:21 PM EDT reply actions

I like the changes

We’ll see how they do. Something needed to be done because the skill players were having to grind too much.

Twitter @ ivyleager

by ivyleager on Oct 17, 2010 7:26 PM EDT reply actions

Oh and look for Alberts to have a great game. Ex Canes always do.

Twitter @ ivyleager

by ivyleager on Oct 17, 2010 7:29 PM EDT up reply actions

too true…

Want. Hockey. Now.

by Andrea's evil twin on Oct 17, 2010 7:39 PM EDT up reply actions

hate when I’m right

Twitter @ ivyleager

by ivyleager on Oct 17, 2010 9:18 PM EDT up reply actions

I somewhat see some good in the lines with Skinner n Sammy’s Puck handling maybe they can make some magic. Skinner is a natural center, maybe it’ll come around to him but the size of third line seems too small. Maybe try flipping sutter n Skinner

by jerry6racing on Oct 17, 2010 7:49 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

i approve of that idea, that would make more sense in my mind, would also help the 3rd line as more of a defensive shut down line.

as much as i love skinner, he needs to improve defensively still.

by ECUCanesFan on Oct 17, 2010 7:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes Skinner fan here but sometimes looks like a lost puppy wen in defensive mode

by jerry6racing on Oct 17, 2010 7:56 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I would have liked to have seen Dalpe on the 3rd line and Sammy back out , but I do like that 1st line. I had been suggesting Jussi with Staal and Cole so somebody could win a draw on that line. I do hope Jussi will be taking the draws if this line is in fact used. I think we may be seeing a of looks during the first 20-30 games.

by Hockeydog on Oct 17, 2010 7:59 PM EDT reply actions