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Boston Bruins at Carolina Hurricanes
April 13, 2013 - 7:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas HD; Radio - 99.9 The Fan
SB Nation Bruins Blog: Stanley Cup of Chowder (twitter @CupofChowdah)
Hurricanes Record: 16-22-2, 34 points, 4th in SE Division
Bruins Record: 26-10-4, 56 points, 2nd in NE Division
Game Notes
Two streaks are on the line as the Canes face the Bruins for the final time this season. With the team's loss on Thursday in Washington, the Canes have matched a season-high seven-game losing streak, and their loss at home to Pittsburgh on Tuesday was their eighth straight at PNC Arena, a franchise record that they look to stop from growing any longer against the Bruins.
The Canes end their week playing the same team that they started the week facing. On Monday in Boston, the Bruins rode a two-goal night from Brad Marchand and three points from former Hurricane Dennis Seidenberg to a relatively easy 6-2 win over Carolina. Tuukka Rask made 40 saves in the winning effort, and is expected to be in net again for tonight's game.
Speaking of Marchand, he suffered a concussion after an illegal check by the Devils' Anton Volchenkov on Wednesday night, and is out indefinitely. However, Patrice Bergeron, out since April 2 with a concussion of his own, will accompany the team to Raleigh although he is not expected to play.
Tonight's game will mark Jaromir Jagr's first visit to Carolina this season, after the Bruins picked him up from the Dallas Stars at the trade deadline. Jagr has owned the Canes over his lengthy career, piling up 105 points in 73 career games against the Carolina franchise.
The Canes' injury ward continues to swell. Patrick Dwyer missed his second game Thursday night with a lower-body injury, and Tim Brent and Drayson Bowman both missed the game against the Capitals with respective lower-body injuries. Coach Kirk Muller has hinted that Bowman's injury might end his season, although he has yet to be moved to injured reserve.
The Bruins can sweep the season series against Carolina for the first time since 2008-09 with a win tonight, returning the favor after the Canes scored their first season sweep of the Bruins in franchise history last season.
With a 44-shot performance against Washington, the Canes have registered 40 or more shots in four of their past five games, the first time in franchise history that the Canes have done so. Over the last five games, the Canes have scored seven goals on 208 shots; putting that in perspective, the Canes have scored 103 goals on 1306 shots for a shooting percentage of 7.9% this season - but only a 3.4% performance over the past five games.
Bob will be taking a well-earned night off tonight, so you're stuck with me in the open game thread, which opens for business at 6:30. We'll entertain you one way or the other, we promise.