Two teams that have gotten to know each other pretty well over the past couple of years will get together for the first time this season as the Carolina Hurricanes, (9-10-2) take on the Boston Bruins, (12-6-2) in TD Garden on Friday with a special start time of noon.
The Bruins are coming off a 3-1 win against the Florida Panthers and have a 4-1-1 record in their last six games. The Canes dropped a tough game to the Washington Caps on Wednesday and have lost five of their last six, (1-3-2).
Carolina had a brief practice on Thanksgiving Day and Paul Maurice told the media that he will be keeping the lines the same as he had them in the third period against Washington.
- Staal, Samsonov, Cole
- Sutter, Dwyer, Jokinen
- Ruutu, Skinner, LaRose
- Carter, Bodie, Tlusty
- Gleason, Corvo
- Pitkanen, White
- Harrison, McBain
New dad Cam Ward will be back between the pipes.
Boston has been a beast on the road, (8-2-0), but mediocre at home, (4-4-2). They have also been a slow starting team so far this season but do a lot of damage in the third period.
Tim Thomas is back to his former Vezina form and has four shutouts to his credit already this campaign.
Cam Ward has had his ups and downs.
Milan Lucic and former Panther, Nathan Horton lead the Bruins with forever young Mark Recchi right behind them.
Stanley Cup of Chowder and NESN will have more information about the B's. By the way, interesting question from Douglas Flynn of NESN about the early season changes to the Hurricanes lineup:
Will the moves pay off for the Hurricanes or is Carolina just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic as they sink back to lottery depths for a second straight season?
Only the Canes can answer that.
Eric Staal still leads Carolina with 24 points in 21 games. Jeff Skinner is now tied with Jussi Jokinen for second with 17 points.
Tuomo Ruutu and Joni Pitkanen each have points in four consecutive games, a team high.
Jon Matsumoto was returned to Charlotte, (he cleared waivers), so the team does not have a healthy scratch at the moment.
The Bruins took a 3-1 advantage over the Hurricanes in their four game season series last year.
The Canes have lost three in a row, (0-1-2), and things don't get easier as they travel to the nation's capital for another match with the Caps on Sunday.
This game will be televised locally by FS Carolinas. Mike Maniscalco will host the pregame show on 99.9 The Fan at 11:30. The open game thread will also be up and ready at 11:30.