Game Day Canes vs Penguins

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
March 26, 2015 - 7:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
TV - Fox Sports Carolinas
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Pensburgh

Fancy Stats

	Hurricanes	Penguins
Record	26-36-10	40-22-11
Points	62	91
Division Rank	8th Metro	3rd Metro
Conference Rank	14th EC	5th EC
Streak	Lost 1	OT 1
Power Play %	19.5%	19.6%
Penalty Kill %	85.2%	85.6%
Goals/Game	2.24	2.73
Goals Against/Game	2.67	2.40
Shots/Game	30.6	31.2
Shots Against/Game	27.4	29.2
ES Goals For %	42.9%	53.8%
ES Corsi For %	52.2%	52.5%
ES PDO	97	100.5
PIM/Game	7.0	14.2
Goaltender	Ward	Fleury
Record	18-21-5	32-16-8
ES Save Percentage	.914	.928
GAA	2.44	2.22
Goaltender	Khudobin	Greiss
Record	8-15-5	8-5-3
ES Save Percentage	.904	.910
GAA	2.62	2.54

Stats via NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• Tonight the Hurricanes and Penguins wrap up their four-game season series. The teams split road wins in November, and the Penguins won 2-1 at CONSOL on New Year's Eve. Since the Canes moved to PNC Arena, they are 15-10-4 against the Penguins on home ice, but the Penguins are 5-1-0 in their last six played here.
• A few interesting stats: Head-to-head, both teams have scored seven goals against this season, and both teams have made 94 shots on goal against the other. Both teams are close statistically when it comes to special teams performance, but the Penguins are 0/7 against the Canes on the power play while the Canes are 4/12 against the Penguins. The Canes lead the league in fewest penalty minutes per game (7.0), while the Penguins are last logging over twice as many (14.2 PIMs/game). Another little-known fact: both the Canes and the Penguins have players and executives who were once associated with the opposing team. Freaky, amirite?
• For the second time this season, the Canes will wear their white away jerseys on home ice. They were pretty successful the first time around, winning 2-1 against the Predators on December 1st.
• With a rare two-day break after a 3-1 loss to the Blackhawks Monday night, the Canes rested Tuesday and practiced yesterday. All non-injured players (everyone except Jack Hillen and Rasmus Rissanen) took the ice. The only line-up note coming out of practice was the announcement by Bill Peters that Cam Ward has recovered from his bout of illness and will get the start in net tonight.
• When the Penguins defeated the Canes to end 2014, they were leading the Metro division and second in the Eastern Conference, just one point behind Tampa Bay with two games in hand. Since then, they have dropped two spots in the Metro and three spots in the conference, and are now nine points out of the top spot and only three points ahead of the Caps in the first wild card spot.
• The Penguins come into tonight's game having given up three unanswered goals in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Blues. They will be without the services of Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist, who practiced yesterday but did not make the trip. They will also likely be without defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, who suffered an upper body injury early in Tuesday's game. Already down to eleven forwards, the loss of the seventh defenseman will likely require a call-up today, along with some line-up shuffling, so stay tuned as the day progresses for updates.
• But hey, that Sidney Crosby guy is pretty good, tied for the NHL lead (with John Tavares) at 74 points, and ranked third in assists (50).
• A win tonight would give the Penguins their 8th consecutive season with at least 20 road wins, extending the longest active streak in the NHL (Bruins are at 6, Rangers at 5).

Projected line-ups

Hurricanes (from Monday's game)

Injuries and Scratches: Jack Hillen (concussion), Rasmus Rissanen (MCL), Brad Malone, Michal Jordan

Penguins (from Tuesday's game):

Injuries and Scratches: Evgeni Malkin (lower body), Patric Hornqvist (undisclosed) Pascal Dupuis (IR blood clot), Olli Maatta (IR upper body)