The Carolina Hurricanes, (4-4-0) are in the "Big Apple" to take on the New York Rangers, (4-3-1) in Madison Square Garden at 7 tonight. The Canes are coming off a 3-0 shutout at the hands of the Washington Capitals while the Rangers were most recently defeated by the Atlanta Thrashers, 6-4.
The Hurricanes will shuffle their lineup a bit for this game. John Forslund is reporting that Jiri Tlusty and Patrick O`Sullivan will both see action, while Zac Dalpe and Drayson Bowman will sit out. The exact lines are not known yet, but my best guess is that they will remain the same, meaning that O'Sullivan and Tlusty will work from the fourth line.
This will be Tlusty's first start this season as he has been recovering from offseason knee surgery. The Canes are expecting big things from the Czech native as they traded away former first round pick Philippe Paradis for his rights.
Look for these lines, at least to start out with. Keep in mind, the coaching staff has been mixing and matching the defensive pairings throughout most games.
- Staal, Jokinen, LaRose
- Sutter, Kostopoulos, Samsonov
- Ruutu, Skinner, Cole
- Dwyer, Tlusty O'Sullivan
- Pitkanen, Babchuk
- Gleason, Corvo
- McBain, Harrison
Cam Ward will go against "King" Henrik Lundqvist. Ward is 7-7-1 in 16 career appearances against NY while Lundqvist is 8-6-1 lifetime against Carolina.
The Rangers are facing injury issues and superstar Marian Gaborik and dependable Chris Drury are both out. Derek Boogaard will also sit and Evgeny Grachev will take his spot. The blueshirts are led in scoring by Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, and Sean Avery.
For more info about the Rangers, check out our SBN partners at Blueshirt Banter and SBN New York. Larry Brooks also has some info here.
The Canes are led in scoring by Eric Staal, Jussi Jokinen, and Joni Pitkanen. (That's right, a defenseman is in the top three in scoring.)
The Canes are looking for a come back performance tonight but they won't be getting any sympathy from the New Yorkers because they are trying to rebound from a slow, 1-2-1 record so far at home. Can Carolina get back on track?
Look for Marc Staal to give brother Eric a tough time as usual.
The broadcast will be on FS Carolinas and 99.9 The Fan. Our open game thread will be starting up at 6:30.