Hurricanes at Oilers: Preview

Carolina Hurricanes at Edmonton Oilers
January 4, 2016 - 9:00 pm ET
Rexall Place - Edmonton, AB
Fox Sports Carolinas - 99.9 FM - WRALSportsFan app
SB Nation Rivals - Copper & Blue

Vital Statistics

*Stats from NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• The Hurricanes started 2016 with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators Saturday night, but the bigger loss may have been that of Phil Di Giuseppe. Since earning his first NHL call-up on December 4, in 14 games the rookie forward earned 3 goals and 5 assists, brought a physical presence to a line with Victor Rask and Jeff Skinner that combined for 16 goals and 17 assists, and helped the Canes amass an 8-4-2 record. Di Giuseppe was injured in the second period of Saturday's game when he collided into the boards. The extent of his injury or how long he might be out is unknown, although it was reported he went through concussion protocol after he left the ice. Hopefully more information will be made available as the team prepares for tonight's game against the Edmonton Oilers.
• So it's time for Brock McGinn to step back into the line-up, for the third recall of his rookie season. McGinn has played in 14 prior games with two goals and an assist, and has ten goals and nine assists in 19 games with the Charlotte Checkers. McGinn was on the west coast where the Checkers were facing a two-game weekend set against the Ontario Reign (he did not play yesterday), and should be meeting the team in Edmonton in time for tonight's game. The team press release is linked below.
• The team traveled yesterday and didn't practice or hold media availability, and there are several questions to be answered with regard to the lineup due to injuries and illnesses. Jay McClement did not play Saturday after being a late scratch due to illness, and both Justin Faulk and Noah Hanifin were reported to be under the weather Saturday though both were in the lineup. With PDG out, McGinn's spot will be determined once the team takes the ice for the morning skate (around 1:30 pm ET).
• Head coach Bill Peters has not announced tonight's starting goaltender. Eddie Lack has started three of the last four games and has been solid, giving up only five goals to three very tough opponents for a 2-0-1 record. He has never faced the Oilers, and with the Canes next game coming Wednesday against his former team, the Vancouver Canucks, Peters may turn to Cam Ward for tonight's game in his hometown. Not counting his playoff success, Ward is 5-3-1 with a 2.78 GAA in nine career regular season games against the Oilers.
• The Canes and Oilers met in Raleigh on Thanksgiving Eve, and after Benoit Pouliot opened the scoring for the Oilers, the Canes answered with goals from Jordan Staal, Elias Lindholm, Jeff Skinner, and Andrej Nestrasil to prevail in a 4-1 win. The Oilers lost Nail Yakopov in that game to an ankle injury after a linesman collided with him during a faceoff. They have also been without rookie phenomenon Connor McDavid, who has been out for the last eight weeks due to a broken clavicle, though the team got a bit of an emotional boost when McDavid began practicing with the team on New Years Day.
• The Oilers had lost seven of their last eight (1-6-1) heading into their game on Saturday night against the Arizona Coyotes. Thanks to two goals from Jordan Eberle they were able to prevail 4-3 in a shootout. Taylor Hall also scored for the Oilers, and leads the team in goals (16) and points (41). Leon Draisaitl has also cracked the 30-point mark with 9 goals and 23 assists.
• The Canes and Oilers will probably be content to play tonight's game at even strength, which is good since neither team is heavily penalized. After a red-hot start in December, the Canes haven't scored on a power play in six games, and adding insult to injury, they gave up a short-handed goal to Nashville Saturday night. Prior to Edmonton's Saturday night game, where they finally broke through with a power play goal, the Oilers had not scored on the man advantage in seven straight games.
• UPDATE 2:30 PM: Brock McGinn will slot in to the third line in PDG's absence. Jay McClement is back in. Chris Terry will be the healthy extra at forward. No changes to the defense pairings. Cam versus Cam, Ward versus Talbot.

Projected Lineups

Hurricanes (1/4 morning skate)

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

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

Cam Ward
Eddie Lack

Injuries and scratches: James Wisniewski (IR ACL), Nathan Gerbe (IR ankle), Phillip Di Giuseppe (upper body), Chris Terry (healthy), Michal Jordan (healthy)

Oilers (1/4 morning skate)

Taylor Hall - Leon Draisaitl - Teddy Purcell
Benoit Pouliot - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
Matt Hendricks - Mark Letestu - Lauri Korpikoski
Rob Klinkhammer - Anton Lander - Jujhar Khaira

Darnell Nurse - Justin Schultz
Andrej Sekera - Brandon Davidson
Brad Hunt - Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot
Anders Nilsson

Injuries and Scratches: Connor McDavid (broken clavicle), Andrew Ference (undisclosed), Nail Yakupov (ankle), Iiro Pakarinen (undisclosed), Oscar Klefbom (hand, lower body), Luke Gazdic (healthy), Mark Fayne (healthy)

Storm Debris

• Canes Gameday Hub [CH.com]
• Brock McGinn recall press release [CH.com] and notes from Charlotte [Checkers.com]
• Nathan Gerbe is nearing a return and will be traveling with the team out west, Michelle McMahon and Shane Willis caught up with him during Saturday's pregame [CH.com]
• Updates on the Canes prospects playing in the World Juniors [CH.com]
• Canes prospect Sebastian Aho speaks with the media after Team Finland's upset over Canada in the World Juniors [ExpressenTV]
• Canes prospect Alex Nedeljkovic shut out the Czech Republic Saturday in a 7-0 win for Team USA in the World Juniors [CBS Sports]
• Speaking of shutouts, Daniel Altshuller pitched one yesterday for the Checkers, who now have points in 10 straight games [Checkers.com]
• Which Edmonton defensemen are deployed against the toughest opponents? (spoiler, the answer probably won't surprise you) [Edmonton Journal]
• Canada lost to Finland in the World Juniors, but it isn't the end of the world [Toronto Star]