Hurricanes at Ducks: Preview

Carolina Hurricanes at Anaheim Ducks
December 11, 2015 - 10:00 pm ET
Honda Center - Anaheim, CA
Fox Sports Carolinas - 99.9 FM - WRALSportsFan app
SB Nation Rivals - Anaheim Calling

Vital Statistics

*Stats from NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• Tonight the Canes and Ducks wrap up their two-game season series in Anaheim. The teams met in Raleigh on November 16th, and it was not a good outcome for the Canes, falling 4-1 and gifting Ryan Getzlaf his first (and only) goal of the season and aiding a slumping Carl Hagelin with a three-point night. The lone Canes goal was courtesy of Noah Hanifin, who became the youngest defenseman in franchise history to score his first career NHL goal.
• Despite their success that night, the Ducks continue to struggle to find the back of the net, scoring only eight goals in the last four games. That said, they won three of those four games, off the strength of outstanding goaltending by John Gibson, who was called up in late November when Frederik Andersen was sidelined by the flu. Read these stats and weep, Canes fans. In his last four games Gibson has gone 3-1-0, has a .76 GAA, a .968 save percentage and two shutouts. That was good enough for first star honors from the NHL this past week. Gibson is expected to get the start tonight as well, if so it will be his seventh in a row.
• Due to a schedule anomaly, tonight the Ducks are playing their only game in a 10-day span. They've had four days off since their last game (a 2-1 win against the Penguins on Sunday) and don't play again until December 18th. They made a roster move Wednesday, sending rookie Nick Ritchie to the AHL, which will draw Patrick Maroon back into the lineup. The team spent the majority of yesterday's practice focusing on three-on-three overtime strategy, which is just what Canes fans will be looking for in a late night west coast game with a back-to-back tomorrow.
• The usual suspects are leading the Ducks in scoring. Corey Perry leads the team in goals (10) and points (19), followed by Ryan Getzlaf with 18 points, though 17 out of the 18 points are assists. Both players produce at a point-per-game pace against the Canes, Perry with 14 points (7g, 7a) in 12 career games and Getzlaf with 12 points (5g, 7a) in the same number of games.
• The Canes find themselves in just the opposite situation from the Ducks, as they have finally found a scoring touch but have been hampered by subpar goaltending. In the 6-5 loss to the Stars Tuesday night, 15 points were awarded to the Canes, 11 to players 23 and younger including first career NHL goals for Jaccob Slavin and Phillip Di Giuseppe. Justin Faulk continued his torrid power play pace, picking up two power play goals. Ron Hainsey and Andrej Nestrasil are riding three-game point streaks, and five players (Noah Hanifin, Victor Rask, Justin Faulk, Elias Lindholm, and Eric Staal) are riding two-game point streaks.
• The Canes had a day off on Wednesday and hit the ice again for practice on Thursday, though there was no news or media availability other than a report that the forward lines had not changed from Tuesday's game. The team will practice at 11:30 am PT (2:30 pm ET) so stay tuned for updates later in the day.
• UPDATE 3:30 PM: The Ducks held an optional skate this morning, there is no official news on their lineup other than confirmation John Gibson will get the start in net. For the Canes, Chris Terry will draw back into the lineup and Riley Nash will be the healthy extra at forward. Eddie Lack will start in net.

Projected Lineups

Hurricanes (updated from Friday's pregame skate)

Kris Versteeg - Eric Staal - Elias Lindholm
Jeff Skinner - Victor Rask - Phillip Di Giuseppe
Joakim Nordstrom - Jordan Staal - Andrej Nestrasil
Brad Malone - Jay McClement - Chris Terry

Ron Hainsey - Justin Faulk 
John-Michael Liles - Brett Pesce
Noah Hanifin - Jaccob Slavin
Michal Jordan

Eddie Lack
Cam Ward

Injuries and scratches: James Wisniewski (IR ACL), Nathan Gerbe (ankle), Riley Nash (healthy)

Ducks (from Anaheim media)

Rickard Rakell - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Mike Santorelli - Ryan Kesler - Jakob Silfverberg
Carl Hagelin - Shawn Horcoff - Andrew Cogliano
Patrick Maroon - Nate Thompson - Chris Stewart

Cam Fowler - Kevin Bieksa
Hampus Lindholm - Josh Manson
Sami Vatanen - Clayton Stoner
Korbinian Holzer

John Gibson
Frederik Andersen
Anton Khudobin

Injuries and Scratches: Jiri Sekac (IR ankle), Simon Despres (IR concussion)

Storm Debris

• Canes Gameday Hub [CH.com].
• Beat report from Anaheim's practice yesterday [Anaheim Calling].
• The Hurricanes goaltenders are struggling [N&O].
• Ron Francis joined Adam and Joe on Wednesday and the general manager is always worth a listen [WRALSportsFan].
• Comparing Noah Hanifin to other top 18-year-old defensemen (spoiler, he's pretty good) [Business of Hockey].
• Hanifin also has a friend and mentor (and landlord) in Nathan Gerbe, see how their relationship works Inside a Hurricane [CH.com].
• Section 328 brings in Sean McIndoe (aka Down Goes Brown) to talk about his recent ESPN articleabout the Canes and previews tomorrow's game against the Coyotes with Catherine Silverman of Today's Slapshot [Section 328].
• A difficult but important read, Patrick O'Sullivan speaks out about the physical abuse he suffered under a demanding hockey dad [Player's Tribune].