The Atlanta Thrashers, (32-30-12) invade the RBC tonight to take on the Carolina Hurricanes, (31-34-9) as the ninth place Thrashers battle to stay in the playoff race. The visiting team finds itself just two points behind eighth place Boston and the club is desperate for a win.
The Canes are riding high after a shootout win over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night. The home team is 5-3-2 in their last 10 while the Thrashers are 4-4-2.
Manny Legace will get the nod in net as Cam Ward makes his long awaited return to the lineup. Ward will be Legace's backup today, but will start on Monday night as the two teams meet again in Atlanta. The goalie has not played since February 2.
The last time Legace faced the Thrashers, he and the Canes picked up Carolina's only shutout of the season as they won, 4-0. This will be the fifth game of the year between the clubs. Atlanta won the first two meetings and Carolina has won the last two.
Look for the rest of the lineup to be the same as it was Thursday night.
- Staal, LaRose, Boychuk
- Sutter, Cole, Whitney
- Dwyer, Bowman, Jokinen
- Brind'Amour, Kostopoulos, Samsonov
- Pitkanen, Pothier
- McBain, Rodney
- Harrison, Carson
Jamie McBain is the hottest Cane at the moment and has six points in six NHL games so far.
FS Carolinas will have the telecast starting at 7. The open game thread will be activated at 6:30.