Will Cam Ward start his 25th consecutive game tonight? Stay tuned Caniacs.
After an emotional overtime win last night, the Carolina Hurricanes, (31-25-9) hit the road and will face the hard-charging Chicago Blackhawks, (35-23-6) tonight at the United Center.
The Canes are currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference by just one point and will be hoping to keep that spot. Another win is important because the team is off for the next four days while the Sabres and Rangers, the two teams closest behind them, will be active.
Chicago is a red hot team at the moment. After a bit of a slow period, last year's Stanley Cup Champions found themselves outside of the playoff picture, looking in. But now they've won six straight games and are right back in the thick of things, currently sitting in fourth place in the Western Conference. They are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.
The Canes will be sticking with the same lineup from last night:
- Stillman, Staal, Cole
- Skinner, Ruutu, LaRose
- Tlusty, Sutter, Jokinen
- Bodie, Dwyer, Samson
- Gleason, Corvo
- Pitkanen, McBain
- Allen, Harrison
Cam Ward, may or may not start tonight. There was some hinting by John Forslund on the Twitter that Justin Peters might get the start, but I have seen nothing official at this point. As soon as we see something official, we'll post an update in the comments.
According to the Committed Indian, the Hawks lines will be as follows:
- Sharp, Toews, Kane
- Bickell, Bolland, Hossa
- Brouwer, Dowell, Frolik
- Stalberg, Johnson, Kopecky
- Keith, Leddy
- Campoli, Campbell
- Seabrook, Hjalarsson
Corey Crawford will get the start in goal.
Second City Hockey will have more about the Blackhawks.
These two clubs met just once last year, the Canes won 4-2 in Chicago on January 30, 2010. Carolina has won three of the last four meetings between the teams.
Good thing it's Friday night? The game will have a late start and will be broadcast locally by FS Carolinas starting at 8:30 Eastern. We will have our open game thread cranked up 30 minutes early as always.