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Carolina Hurricanes (16-12-7) at Tampa Bay Lightning (18-15-4)
Saturday, December 31 - 7:00 p.m. ET
Amalie Arena – Tampa, FL
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Vital Statistics
| Category | Hurricanes | Blue Jackets |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Hurricanes | Blue Jackets |
| Record | 21-15-7 | 29-9-4 |
| Points | 49 | 62 |
| Division Rank | 6 Metro | 2 Metro |
| Conference Rank | 9 EC | 2 EC |
| Last 10 Games | 6-4-0 | 6-4-0 |
| Streak | Won | Loss 1 |
| Goals/Game | 2.77 | 3.31 |
| Goals Against/Game | 2.63 | 2.24 |
| Shots/Game | 30.6 | 30.3 |
| Shots Against/Game | 27.6 | 29.8 |
| Faceoff % | 51.7% | 47.7% |
| Power Play % (Rank) | 17.2% (18) | 26.0% (1) |
| Penalty Kill % (Rank) | 88.7% (1) | 83.0% (10) |
| ES Corsi For % | 52.1% | 55.1% |
| ES PDO | 99.4 | 101.3 |
| PIM/Game | 05:95 | 08:93 |
Goaltender #1
| Category | Petr Mrazek | Tuukka Rask |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Petr Mrazek | Tuukka Rask |
| Record | 5-5 | 11-5 |
| Save % | .894 | .939 |
| GAA | 2.73 | 1.96 |
Goaltender #2
| Category | Alex Nedeljkovic | Anton Forsberg |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Alex Nedeljkovic | Anton Forsberg |
| Record | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 |
| ES Save % | .000 | .852 |
| GAA | 0.00 | 4.10 |
Game Notes
- After last night’s win over Chicago, the Hurricanes have earned points in 11 straight appearances in PNC Arena. It’s the longest such streak since 2009. Meanwhile, on the road the Canes are 2-2-1 in their last five games, although that could have easily been 3-1-1 with any luck at all in Pittsburgh three nights ago.
- With a goal last night, forward Elias Lindholm has points in three straight games. Additionally, the Hurricanes move to a 9-2-0 record in games when the Swedish forward records a point. However, Lindholm exited the game early last night with an upper-body injury, and his status for tonight’s game remains a question mark.
- Tonight’s matchup is the second of three meetings between the Canes and Bolts this season. Carolina won the December 4th matchup in PNC after an exciting overtime goal from forward Phil Di Giuseppe.
- Head Coach Bill Peters has not commented on who will be between the pipes tonight, and without a morning skate we won’t get word until close to game time. It wouldn’t be a surprise for Peters to ride Cam Ward again tonight after an impressive win last night.
- Carolina is 5-1-0 in the second leg of back-to-back games this season, and after a win last night the Hurricanes will look to finish out the year strong and make up some important ground in the Eastern Conference.
- Exactly a year ago tonight, the Hurricanes finished off the season with an overtime win at home over the Capitals. The Hurricanes came into the new year last season with a record of 16-17-5 and 37 points in 38 games. With a W tonight, the Canes will sit at 17-12-7 for 41 points in 36 games.
Projected Lineups
These are a little more fluid than usual, especially on the Hurricanes side of the ledger, where in addition to Lindholm’s injury Brett Pesce was slammed into an open bench door and Klas Dahlbeck was a surprise inclusion in place of Matt Tennyson last night. Here’s the best guess we have right now; don’t blame us too badly if it’s way off.
Hurricanes
Jeff Skinner - Victor Rask - Derek Ryan
Brock McGinn - Jordan Staal - Elias Lindholm
Sebastian Aho - Teuvo Teravainen - Lee Stempniak
Joakim Nordstrom - Jay McClement - Victor Stalberg
Jaccob Slavin - Brett Pesce
Noah Hanifin - Ron Hainsey
Klas Dahlbeck - Ryan Murphy
Cam Ward
Eddie Lack
Injuries and Scratches: Bryan Bickell (IR multiple sclerosis), Justin Faulk (lower-body), Matt Tennyson (healthy), Andrej Nestrasil (healthy)
Lightning
Ondrej Palat - Tyler Johnson - Nikita Kucherov
Brian Boyle - Valtteri Filppula - Jonathan Drouin
Alex Killorn - Matthew Peca - Yanni Gourde
Michael Bournival - J.T. Brown - Vladimir Namestnikov
Victor Hedman - Anton Stralman
Slater Koekkoek - Jason Garrison
Braydon Coburn - Andrej Sustr
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Kristers Gudlevskis
Injuries and Scratches: Ryan Callahan (IR hip surgery), Brayden Point (IR upper-body), Steven Stamkos (IR torn meniscus), Ben Bishop (IR lower-body), Cedric Paquette (healthy), Nikita Nesterov (healthy)