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Justin Peters is expected to make his NHL debut tonight as the Carolina Hurricanes, (20-30-7) tackle the New York Islanders, (23-25-8) for a game at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Peters has a record of 18-13-2 for the Albany River Rats of the AHL so far this season with a GAA of 2.55 and a save percentage of .916. The goalie represented "Team Canada" in the AHL All Star game earlier this year.
Peters was called into service because of an injury to franchise goalie Cam Ward. Mike Maniscalco is reporting that Ward is expected to see a back specialist early this week and could be out for some time.
Manny Legace earned the win last night, but will take a break tonight as he backs up the rookie.
Eric Staal will put his 11 game scoring streak on the line. The captain has 10 goals and 7 assists during this spell and is now leading his team, despite missing 10 games earlier in the year due to a torso injury. The center has 42 points in 32 games since returning from his time off.
Jussi Jokinen is also hot for the Hurricanes and has a five game scoring streak in process. Many fans still can not imagine how or why presently the hottest scorer from Finland in the NHL did not make the Finnish Olympic squad, but apparently due to petty politics, it's their loss.
Jokinen has now passed Ray Whitney and is second on the team in scoring.
The New York Islanders have lost six games in a row and are playing more like the pundits predicted at the beginning of the year. For more information about them, Lighthouse Hockey has all the latest.
This game will be televised locally by FSN starting at 7. We will have the open game thread cranked up here at 6:30, barring the use of a "no trade clause" or some other debacle.
Note: The "pending" then "dead" trade of Niclas Wallin to San Jose is back in the negotiating process. What's keeping the two sides apart? Reportedly, Wallin wants a "no trade clause" worked in his new deal with the Sharks. (Just kidding folks.)