Hurricanes at Red Wings: Game Preview 4-11-14

Carolina Hurricanes at Detroit Red Wings
April 11, 2014 - 7:30 pm ET
Joe Lewis Arena - Detroit, MI
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 The Fan

SB Nation Rival Blog: Winging It In Motown

Hurricanes Record: 34-35-11 | 79 pts | 7th Metro | 13th EC
Red Wings Record: 38-27-15 | 91 pts | 4th Atlantic | 7th EC

Team line combinations: [Red Wings] [Hurricanes]

As far as I can tell, the Hurricanes arrived in Detroit last night. Given last night's performance against the Capitals in the home closer, it remains to be seen who will show up for tonight's game outside of Zach Boychuk, who was just recalled. The Canes will not hold a morning skate or media availability prior to the game.

The Detroit Red Wings clinched their spot in the playoffs by taking the Penguins to overtime (before losing 4-3 in a shootout) on Wednesday night. It is the 23rd consecutive trip to the post-season for Detroit, a feat accomplished despite the fact that their 406 (to date) man-games lost to injury are a franchise record, and they have been forced to play almost a quarter of the season without the services of captain Henrik Zetterberg or magic man Pavel Datsyuk. No one on the Red Wings roster has 50 points for the season. Daniel Alfredsson and Niklas Kronwall are tied for the team lead with 49 points, and Gustav Nyquist leads scoring with 28 goals. Jimmy Howard will be in net tonight, posting a 21-18-11 record with a .910 save percentage and two shutouts.

The Red Wings have taken the two prior games played against the Canes this season, a 3-2 overtime win here in Raleigh on opening night October 4th, and a 4-3 win in Detroit on November 21st.

For your entertainment, here are a few interesting pre-game (or during-game) clicks:

- Mike Maniscalco says everyone needs evaluating during the long off-season [WRALSportsFan].

- Luke DeCock says that for some Hurricanes, this will be a final goodbye [N&O].

- Is Kirk Muller safe in Carolina? [The Fourth Period]

- Sean Gentile says don't take 30-goal scorers for granted, as they are rare [Sporting News].

- For another team owner's perspective on not making the playoffs, here's what Ted Leonsis (Capitals owner) had to say [Ted's Take].

- The Devils fell out of the playoff race Wednesday night as well, but despite that, several players vocally supported head coach Pete DeBoer, whose contract expires in the off-season [Fire & Ice].

- Are the Panthers cutting capacity in 2014-15? [Miami Herald]

- Trevor Linden is back in the saddle as the new president of hockey operations for the Vancouver Canucks (and calls his parents to share the good news) [Team Website].

- Brendan Shanahan is the new President of the Toronto Maple Leafs [Team Website].

- And in other breaking news:

In addition to calling up @ZachBoychuk, the @NHLCanes have assigned Sergey Tolchinsky (@Tolchinsky10) to @CheckersHockey.

— Mike Sundheim (@MikeSundheim) April 11, 2014

We'll have the game thread ready to roll by 7:00 pm. See you there.