Hurricanes At Bruins: Game Day Preview

The Carolina Hurricanes, (18-25-9) will try to make a season sweep of the Boston Bruins, (32-14-2) tonight in Beantown. The Canes have won the first three games against the Bruins this season but have never swept this franchise in a season series.

Unfortunately for Carolina, it's about the only team they have had consistent success against this season as they currently find themselves in sole possession of 15th place in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins are in second place, just three points behind the New York Rangers.

Drayson Bowman will fill in for Chad LaRose tonight, who stayed back in Raleigh with flu-like symptoms. Jaroslav Spacek will also be back in the lineup, with Derek Joslin being the healthy scratch.

In the third period on Tuesday night, LaRose was on the the top line with Eric Staal and Jiri Tlusty. Tuomo Ruutu was matched with Jussi Jokinen and Jeff Skinner. Coach Kirk Muller seemed happy with that mix and said he was looking to re-ignite the previous positive chemistry of the Finns/Skinns line. Will Bowman be with Staal, or on the fourth line, where LaRose started the game against the Islanders? Stayed tuned.

Cam Ward will be the starter and according to Stanley Cup of Chowder, will most likely face Tuukka Rask. Andrew Ference will be back in the lineup after serving a three game suspension. Look for the Bruins to come out trying to set a physical tone against Carolina.

Jeff Skinner is the hottest Cane at the moment and has points in three straight games. Tim Brent has goals in each of the last two, while Tim Gleason has assists in his last two.

Eric Staal has also been cooking of late and has 17 points in his last 14 games.

FS Carolinas will have the local broadcast, same time same station. As always, we'll have our open game thread ready at 6:30.