Hurricanes vs Devils: Preview

Carolina Hurricanes vs New Jersey Devils
December 3, 2015 - 7:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
Fox Sports Carolinas - 99.9 FM - WRALSportsFan app
SB Nation Rivals - All About The Jersey

Vital Statistics

*Stats from NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• The Canes and Devils face off tonight in the first of a five-game series. The Canes went 2-2-0 against the Devils in four games last season.
• After Monday's loss to the Rangers, the Canes made a number of changes coming into tonight's game. Jaccob Slavin returned to the Charlotte Checkers (after playing six games in his first NHL recall) and Ryan Murphy was recalled. Murphy suffered a concussion in a game on November 14th and had begun skating with the Canes prior to Thanksgiving. He was assigned to Charlotte to play in two games over the weekend, where he logged a power play goal and two assists. Murphy is expected to reclaim his spot paired with Noah Hanifin and should also see time on the power play.
• Coach Bill Peters also shuffled the forward lines at Wednesday's practice, moving Kris Versteeg, Chris Terry, and Andrej Nestrasil around at right wing as reported below (which may not remain going into tonight's game, stay tuned for more information after the morning skate).
• Eddie Lack will get the start in goal, after two sub-par performances in net from Cam Ward in post-holiday games against the Sabres and Rangers. Lack has one prior career start against the Devils and is 0-1-0 with a 3.10 GAA.
• Elias Lindholm is riding a five-game points streak (1g, 4a).
• The New Jersey Devils are hanging tight in the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference, just two points out of the top eight through 24 games. They are not known to be an offensive juggernaut (in fact the stats battle to watch tonight may be their 30th ranked shots for versus the Canes top-ranked shots against) but their goaltending is very good and so are their special teams. They've fared well against top teams (with wins against the Blackhawks, Rangers, and Canadiens) but have struggled with letdown games against teams below them in the standings (most recent example was a 2-1 loss to the Avalanche Tuesday night).
• Mike Cammalleri leads the team with 23 points (7g, 16a) and Adam Henrique leads in goal scoring with 11 goals. Looking at players with slumps, both Damon Severson and Stephen Gionta are without a goal this season. Fans looking to see a couple of ex-Canes make their return to PNC Arena won't have the opportunity tonight; Tuomo Ruutu (fractured foot) and Jiri Tlusty (shoulder) are both out of the lineup with injuries. Patrik Elias, who recently returned to the Devils lineup from injury, has 56 points (22g, 34a) in 56 games against the Canes.
• Coach John Hynes has not named a starting goaltender for tonight's game, though there is a strong possibility backup Keith Kinkaid will get the start (the Devils return home to face the Flyers tomorrow night). The team held a limited practice yesterday before traveling to Raleigh.

Projected Lineups

Hurricanes (from morning skate)

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

Ron Hainsey - Justin Faulk 
John-Michael Liles - Brett Pesce
Noah Hanifin - Ryan Murphy

Eddie Lack
Cam Ward

Injuries and scratches: James Wisniewski (IR ACL), Nathan Gerbe (ankle), Michal Jordan (healthy)

Devils (updated from morning skate)

Mike Cammalleri - Adam Henrique - Lee Stempniak
Patrik Elias - Travis Zajac - Kyle Palmieri
Stefan Matteau - Jacob Josefson - Tyler Kennedy
Brian O'Neill - Stephen Gionta - Jordin Tootoo

Andy Greene - Adam Larsson
John Moore - Damon Severson
Eric Gelinas - Jon Merrill

Keith Kinkaid
Cory Schneider

Injuries and Scratches: Tuomo Ruutu (fractured foot), Jiri Tlusty (shoulder), David Schlemko, Sergey Kalinin, Bobby Farnham

Storm Debris

• Canes Gameday hub [CH.com] and Bill Peters post-practice video from 12/2 [CH.com]
• Hurricanes relying on young defensemen [N&O].
• Canes Tweetmail: More on the Canes' young defense as well as the All-Star and Alumni games [CH.com].
• Canes Corner Podcast: December key to Canes development [WRALSportsFan].
• Hockey Canada has released its selection camp roster for the World Juniors, and Canes defenseman prospects Haydn Fleury and Roland McKeown have made the short list [Hockey Canada].
• Team USA will be making its World Juniors selections soon, and Canes goaltending prospect Alex Nedeljkovic is expected to be on it [SBNation College Hockey].
• John Buccigross attended Canes vs. Rangers and shared his insight on what he saw [ESPN].
• Previously reported but ICYMI, Joni Pitkanen is attempting a comeback bid [Puck Daddy].
• After losing to the Avalanche, the Devils can't afford another letdown game [Fire & Ice].
• For the first time ever, the Devils are holding a fathers trip and the dads are in Raleigh for tonight's game [Fire & Ice].
• Finally, a former Devils player shares his thoughts on being selected by fans to be part of the 3-on-3 competition:

Fans-I appreciate your votes for All-Star game, but 3 on 3 would kill me,and i don't want to die yet:)Thank you for understanding. Too old:)

— Jaromir Jagr (@68Jagr) December 2, 2015