Hurricanes Vs. Senators: Game Preview 01-25-2014

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Ottawa Senators
Saturday, January 25, 2014 - 12:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
TV - Fox Sports Carolina
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: Silver Seven (twitter @silversevens)

Hurricanes Record: 22-19-9 (53 pts.)
Sabres Record: 22-19-10 (54 pts.)

In spite of the snow and postponed games the Carolina Hurricanes were able to win back to back road games against the Philadelphia Flyers and the Buffalo Sabres.  The Hurricanes now return home to the PNC to face the Ottawa Senators in yet another rescheduled game looking to extend the win streak to three games.

Alexander Semin is hot, hot, hot.  Semin is currently riding a four game goal scoring streak that has seen the winger score 6 goals over that span.  Semin seems to be scoring in all situations with one power play goal and one short handed goal amongst the six goals.  Semin seems to have found his shooting touch as he's scored on 6 of 17 shots over the last four goals.

The Hurricanes also seem to be in a mood to score highlight reel goals.  From Nathan Gerbe's between the leg goal against the Flyers (and, why pass up the opportunity to watch that one more time?) to Jeff Skinner's sneaky shot against Jhonas Enroth against the Sabres the Canes are scoring goals that make DVR technology invaluable.  The Canes, however, aren't relying solely on finesse to win games.  Jiri Tlusty has been able to return to the ledger sheet scoring a dirty goal in Philadelphia.

This game will be the second of three meeting between the Hurricanes and the Senators on the season.  The Canes and Senators last played on November 24th in a game the Hurricanes won 4 to 1.  Jason Spezza scored early on for the Senators lone goal on the night.  Patrick Dwyer, Tuomo Ruutu, Elias Lindholm and Eric Staal scored and Cam Ward stopped 35 of 36 shots.

The ines and D pairings were same as the Buffalo game Friday at practice.  No word on goalie yet, but Muller seems to want to ride the hot hand of Anton Khudobin for as long as possible.

Ryan Murphy Assigned to Charlotte

On Thursday the Carolina Hurricanes assigned Ryan Murphy to the Charlotte Checkers.  Murphy had been a healthy extra the last four games.  The move came just in time for Murphy to play for the Checkers through the Olympic break, something that may be good for the player.  The release is below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Jan. 24, 2014

‘CANES ASSIGN RYAN MURPHY TO CHARLOTTE

Defenseman eligible to play with Checkers through Olympic Break

RALEIGH, NC – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has assigned defenseman Ryan Murphy to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Murphy, 20, has totaled two goals and nine assists (11 points) in 39 NHL games with Carolina this season. The Aurora, Ont., native is in his first full professional season since being drafted by the Hurricanes in the first round, 12^th overall, of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Because he was reassigned today, Murphy (5’11", 185 lbs.) is eligible to play with Charlotte during the NHL’s Olympic Break.

The game thread will open up at 11:30 tomorrow morning.  We look forward to seeing you there.  As always, Go Canes!