Hockey is finally back!
Sorta.
Tonight, the Carolina Hurricanes will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in game one of a home-and-home set between the two clubs to kick off the preseason.
For the Canes, there are still plenty of questions to answer, and tonight’s game will be a big one for a very youthful lineup that features many names that will either end up in Charlotte or make a push for a roster spot in Raleigh.
The Lightning will go a different direction with their lineup, as they will be dressing a majority of their star players and NHL regulars. The likes of Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Anton Stralman, Brayden Point, and others are expected to suit up tonight.
It will certainly be a big test for the Canes, and if you live in the Hurricanes broadcast region, you’ll be able to watch every second of it on Hurricanes.com.
If you aren’t able to watch the stream, John Forslund and Tripp Tracy will have you covered with audio on 99.9 The Fan and wralsportsfan.com.
Hurricanes and Lightning Rosters
The exact line combinations and d-pairings are still up in the air, but it appears as if we know the first three forward lines and the goalie situation for the Canes tonight, as per Chip Alexander from the team’s morning skate:
Andrei Svechnikov - Lucas Wallmark - Valentin Zykov
Brock McGinn - Jordan Martinook - Phil Di Giuseppe
Cliff Pu - Clark Bishop - Aleksi Saarela
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour said this morning that the plan is to start Petr Mrazek in net, play him for roughly two periods, and then let Alex Nedeljkovic finish the game.
Beyond that, we do know the full rosters for both clubs:
Full lineups for #TBLightning @NHLCanes preseason game tonight in Tampa pic.twitter.com/3ZQE9q4JPl
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) September 18, 2018