Game Day: Hurricanes vs. Sabres 10-14-14

Carolina Hurricanes vs Buffalo Sabres
October 14, 2014 - 7:30 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
TV - NBC Sports
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Die By The Blade

Fancy Stats

Game Notes

• The good news is it's NOT a concussion, and Eric Staal's upper body concern is officially listed as day-to-day. But it's not often the team goes without seeing its captain on the ice. Staal has only missed 17 games through ten seasons, and with brother Jordan not having missed a game in his first two seasons with the team, tonight marks the first time since February 26, 2011 that there hasn't been a Staal in the Hurricanes line-up.
• The other good news is that Patrick Dwyer, who left Saturday's game with a lower body injury, is also listed as day-to-day and should not have to miss many days of game action.
• Perhaps the best news is that Jeff Skinner skated on his own yesterday and is scheduled to skate with the team today, indicating an optimism that his concussion recovery is proceeding smoothly, perhaps joining the team for the road trip to New York for Thursday's game.
• Now for the bad news, an injury-depleted roster that is so threadbare that even after a Zach Boychuk call-up there currently aren't enough forwards to make up four lines. Brett Bellemore skated as a fill-in yesterday in practice, and unless there are roster changes today, the Canes will skate seven defensemen and double-shift a forward. Read 'em and weep as you glance at the line-up below, especially down the middle.
• For the downright ugly news, the 0-2-0 Canes and 0-3-0 Buffalo Sabres, the NHL's 29th and 30th ranked teams, will face off tonight on national television. The Sabres are coming off an embarrassing 5-1 matinee loss yesterday to the Anaheim Ducks, where they were out-shot 44-12. Per head coach Ted Nolan, "It was like an NHL team playing against a pee wee team." That ought to make the Sabres players good and angry headed into Raleigh today. Meanwhile, Canes coach Bill Peters says his squad has been working hard but hasn't been working smart.
• Line-ups are as the Canes practiced yesterday and as the Sabres played yesterday so neither is confirmed for tonight (including starting goaltenders; Ward practiced in the starter crease yesterday and Enroth is an assumption with the back-to-back). As the day progresses we'll update as new information is known.

Projected Line-ups

Hurricanes (from yesterday's practice)

Injuries and Scratches: Jordan Staal (IR broken fibula), Jeff Skinner (IR concussion), Eric Staal (DTD upper body), Patrick Dwyer (DTD lower body)

Sabres (from yesterday's game)

Injuries and Scratches: Tyson Strachan, Nikita Zadorov, Marcus Foligno (DTD), Mark Pysyk (IR), Jake McCabe (IR)

Note the later start time with the national (woo hoo!) television coverage. We'll have the open game thread ready to roll by 7:00 pm. If you're headed to PNC Arena tonight, pick up a handy-dandy schedule sticker set. See you there.