Hurricanes at Blue Jackets: Preview

Carolina Hurricanes at Columbus Blue Jackets
March 24, 2016 - 7:00 pm ET
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, OH
Fox Sports Carolinas - 99.9 FM - WRALSportsFan app
SB Nation Rival Blog - The Cannon

Vital Statistics

*Stats from NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• There are a lot of ways to look at the Hurricanes' March record, which is now 3-2-4 since the trade deadline. On one hand, they've picked up points in seven out of nine games, which means they've been competitive despite the loss of significant players to trades and injuries. On the other hand, they've lost their last five games with a record of 0-2-3, indicating that perhaps the grind of life post-deadline has started to take its toll. The bottom line, though, is that they haven't been able to keep pace with other teams in contention for a wild card spot and are now seven points back and with no time left to catch up. The tragic number is down to 12.
• Coming off a disappointing 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, in a game the Canes led with four minutes remaining, they now try to regroup in an up-and-back road trip to Columbus, facing a team they defeated twice this season. Jordan Staal's beast mode was activated as he scored two goals and two assists, including a power play goal and an overtime game winner, when the teams faced each other for back-to-back games on Jan. 8 and 9, and Elias Lindholm also chipped in two goals along with an assist. Tonight's game is the third of four in this season's series between the two teams.
• The Blue Jackets haven't had much to get excited about this season, as injuries plagued them in the early going and they were never able to recover despite an early-season coaching change and several roster shake-ups. But they enter tonight's game on a high note, coming from behind to score two goals in the last 64 seconds of regulation, forcing overtime and eventually stunning the Flyers in a 3-2 shootout win Tuesday night. It was the first time in team history (and the first for any team since 2005) to overcome a two-goal deficit that late in the game. Boone Jenner scored shorthanded to begin the comeback for the Blue Jackets and was the lone scorer in a five-round shootout. Cam Atkinson, who leads the Blue Jackets with 26 goals and 47 points, scored the game-tying goal.
• Captain Nick Foligno, who missed six games after being hit by Brad Malone in the Jan. 8 game in Raleigh, also missed Tuesday's game due to illness but is expected to be back in the lineup tonight. Jared Boll will probably not be in the lineup, as he has a phone hearing later today and is facing a possible suspension after a high hit to the Flyers' Pierre-Edouard Bellemare during Tuesday's game.
• The Canes will need to recall a forward today in order to fill out the roster for tonight's game. This time it probably won't be Derek Ryan, who played 13:18 in Tuesday's game against the Sabres, then returned to Charlotte play in back-to-back games, tallying four assists in the Checkers 7-3 win last night. Sergey Tolchinsky scored two goals in the first multi-goal game of his AHL career. With the win, the Checkers have moved back into playoff contention, albeit by a slim margin. They are off until Saturday but only had 11 healthy forwards last night even with Ryan's return.
• Chris Terry has the hot hand for the Canes at the moment, with points in his last three games and goals in two straight. Jordan Staal, Joakim Nordstrom, and Noah Hanifin all have points in two straight games, and Hanifin, along with Jaccob Slavin and Victor Rask, are all point-per-game players against the Blue Jackets.
• The Canes killed off all four penalties on Tuesday against the Sabres, and have now killed off 14 penalties in a row (3/12 - 3/22), moving them to fifth in league rankings (84.1%). However, after going 4 for 12 on the power play during the first five games in March, the Canes are now 0 for 11 on the power play over their last four games, and are facing the NHL's most-penalized team tonight.
• Update 10:00 am: The Canes have recalled Brody Sutter, who will return to tonight's lineup. Eddie Lack has been confirmed as the starting goaltender.

Projected Lineups

Hurricanes (3/22 vs Sabres)

Joakim Nordstrom - Jordan Staal - Elias Lindholm
Jeff Skinner - Victor Rask - Phillip Di Giuseppe
Nathan Gerbe - Riley Nash - Chris Terry
Brad Malone - Jay McClement - Brody Sutter

Jaccob Slavin - Ron Hainsey
Noah Hanifin - Brett Pesce
Ryan Murphy - Michal Jordan

Eddie Lack
Cam Ward

Injuries and scratches: James Wisniewski (IR ACL), Justin Faulk (ankle), Andrej Nestrasil (fractured vertebra)

Blue Jackets (3/24 team website)

Matt Calvert - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson
Brandon Saad - Boone Jenner - Nick Foligno
Scott Hartnell - Alexander Wennberg - Oliver Bjorkstrand
William Karlsson - Michael Chaput - Gregory Campbell

Ryan Murray - Seth Jones
Fedor Tyutin - Dalton Prout
Cody Goloubef - David Savard

Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo

Injuries and scratches: Jack Johnson (IR shoulder), David Clarkson (DTD lower body), Curtis McElhinney (knee), Jared Boll (suspension), Rene Bourque, Justin Falk

Storm Debris

• Canes Gameday Hub [CH.com].
• Rod Brind'Amour joined Adam and Joe yesterday, and as usual, it's a can't miss interview as he shares his insight on Tuesday's game [WRALSportsFan].
• John Forslund joins Mike Maniscalco to break down the last nine games of the season on the Canes Corner podcast [WRALSportsFan].
• Tweetmail has hit syndication, episode #100 focuses on recalls, Faulk, and Wisniewski [CH.com].
• Checkers offense comes alive in Chicago [GoCheckers].
• Canes Hanifin, Sabres Eichel, are friendly foes [N&O].
• 3-on-3 hockey is awesome, but not when the Canes use a two-defenseman strategy [Today's Slapshot].
• Jared Boll to have hearing for hit on Bellemare [Columbus Dispatch].