Game Day Hurricanes at Canucks: The Captain Returns

Carolina Hurricanes at Vancouver Canucks
October 28, 2014 - 10:00 pm ET
Rogers Arena - Vancouver, BC
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Nucks Misconduct

Fancy Stats

	Hurricanes	Canucks
Record	0-5-2	5-3-0
Points	2	10
Division Rank	8th Metro	5th Pacific
Conference Rank	16th EC	7th WC
Streak	Lost 3	Won 1
Power Play %	21.7%	21.2%
Penalty Kill %	80.8%	84.8%
Goals/Game	2.00	3.25
Goals Against/Game	3.86	3.25
Shots/Game	24.4	33.8
Shots Against/Game	28.0	29.5
ES Goals For %	30.0%	44.4%
ES Corsi For %	49.6%	50.5%
PIM/Game	10.4	12.8
Goaltender	Ward	Miller
Record	0-2-1	5-1-0
ES Save Percentage	.814	.917
GAA	4.24	2.58
Goaltender	Khudobin	Lack
Record	0-3-1	0-2-0
ES Save Percentage	.891	.853
GAA	3.24	4.62

Game Notes

• Eric Staal returns to the Hurricanes line-up tonight, and by the time the game wraps up in Vancouver, it will be October 29th in the Eastern time zone and he'll be celebrating his 30th birthday. It would be a nice present not only for him but for all Canes fans willing to stay up late for the team to close out this Western Conference road trip with a 'W'. There's a precedent here. The last time the Canes went out west on an extended road trip they eked out a win in their last game (vs. Sharks 3/4/14).
• On Sunday morning, after Saturday's win by the Sabres, the Canes officially found themselves at the bottom of the NHL standings, dead last, or alternatively, first in the McEichel standings. Seven straight winless games is a franchise worst season start (previous record was five winless in 2003-04).
• The line-up below is as the team practiced yesterday. The captain's return bumped Victor Rask to a fourth line role. Nathan Gerbe and Patrick Dwyer remain out although both saw some practice time with the team yesterday, still in no-contact jerseys. Justin Faulk and Andrej Sekera were reunited on the blue line.
• Jeff Skinner is two goals shy of 100 NHL career goals, and Alexander Semin is four points away from 500 NHL career points.
• The Canucks are off to a solid start under new head coach Willie Desjardins. They defeated the Capitals on Sunday night, so the Canes won't be catching the brunt of a team coming off a "motivational speech".
• As far as a scouting report on the Canucks, I can't do any better than the words of a guy who covers the team daily. Check out Harrison Mooney from the Vancouver Sun, joining Section 328 on their Cheaters Never Win podcast last week (34-minute mark). It's good stuff.
• In addition to the always-reliable Sedins, former Cane Radim Vrbata (10 points) and Nick Bonino (7 points) are two newcomers that are fitting in well with solid offensive production.
• Though neither starting goaltender is confirmed, reports coming out of yesterday's practice suggest that Cam Ward and Ryan Miller will be facing each other in net.

Projected line-ups

Hurricanes (from yesterday's practice)

Injuries: Jordan Staal (IR broken fibula), Patrick Dwyer (IR lower body), Nathan Gerbe (DTD lower body)

Canucks (from team website)

Injuries and Scratches: Ryan Stanton (IR groin), Frank Corrado, Tom Sestito, Bo Horvat

The game is back on FS Carolinas tonight. Stay up with us. We'll have the game thread ready by 9:30 pm. See you there.