Hurricanes at Panthers: Preview

Carolina Hurricanes at Florida Panthers
April 9, 2016 - 7:00 pm ET
BB&T Center - Sunrise, FL
Fox Sports Carolinas/Southeast - 99.9 FM - WRALSportsFan app
SB Nation Rival Blog - Litter Box Cats

Vital Statistics

*Stats from NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• The Carolina Hurricanes 2015-16 season officially draws to a close tonight with the Canes on the road taking on the Florida Panthers. Recent history has not been kind to the Canes in this series. Looking back over the last two seasons, the Panthers have won all five games played. Not only that, but they've shut out the Canes three times, and held the Canes to one goal in the two other games. That aside, the Panthers have the second-best PDO in the league, and the third best goals for percentage, and with 101 points, they come home tonight to a sellout crowd for fan appreciation night as Atlantic division winners with home ice guaranteed for two playoff rounds. What the heck, might as well try to win the game anyway.
• The Panthers clinched the Atlantic division title Tuesday night with their fourth straight win, but got caught sleepwalking in a 3-1 loss to the Senators Thursday night. The lone goal scorer was the patron saint of mullets, Jaromir Jagr, who at age 44 leads the team with 65 points (27g, 38a). Aleksander Barkov leads the team with 28 goals and is riding an eight-game point streak with 12 points (5g, 7a). Our old pal Jussi Jokinen leads the team with 41 assists but has been kept off the score sheet for the last six games.
• After Thursday's 4-2 loss in the home finale, the Canes reassigned Patrick Brown to Charlotte and recalled Brendan Woods. That presumably still leaves the roster short a forward after Derek Ryan left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury. The Canes have not reported on the extent of Ryan's injury, but reports from the Checkers indicated it was "not good". Losing the Checkers captain deals a huge blow with four games over the next week and a neck-in-neck battle for the final Calder Cup playoff spot. Relevant to the Canes, it likely means they will dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen (hence the SWAG on the projected lineup).
• With no practice or media availability yesterday, Bill Peters hasn't had a chance to announce who he will start in net tonight. On one hand he may want to offer Cam Ward a chance to end the season on a better note than Thursday's loss. On the other hand it would be highly entertaining to see Roberto Luongo (confirmed starter for the Panthers) square off against his good friend Eddie Lack.
• Broadcast Note: Tonight's broadcast will air on FoxSports Carolinas for MOST of the viewing area, and on DirectTV, Dish, and AT&T/Uverse, but cable/TWC customers in Greensboro, west NC, and SC will have the broadcast aired on FoxSports Southeast. Check your local guide for more details.

During Thursday's game the Hurricanes announced the following 2015-16 season award recipients:

• Jay McClement was selected by his teammates for the Steve Chiasson Award, given to the player that exemplifies determination and dedication while inspiring with performance and approach to the game.
• Jordan Staal was selected by the Carolinas Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) as the MVP.
• Jeff Skinner was selected by the Carolinas PWHA for the Josef Vasicak Award, for outstanding cooperation with the media.

Projected Lineups

Hurricanes (Updated 4/9 morning skate)

Joakim Nordstrom - Jordan Staal - Elias Lindholm
Jeff Skinner - Victor Rask - Chris Terry
Nathan Gerbe - Riley Nash - Brad Malone
Brendan Woods - Jay McClement - Ryan Murphy

Jaccob Slavin - Justin Faulk
Noah Hanifin - Brett Pesce
Ron Hainsey - Michal Jordan

Eddie Lack
Cam Ward

Injuries and scratches: James Wisniewski (IR ACL), Andrej Nestrasil (fractured vertebra), Phillip DiGiuseppe (upper body), Derek Ryan (upper body)

Panthers (Updated 4/9 morning skate)

Jonathan Huberdeau - Aleksander Barkov - Jaromir Jagr
Jussi Jokinen - Nick Bjugstad - Reilly Smith
Teddy Purcell - Rocco Grimaldi - Jiri Hudler
Garrett Wilson - Derek MacKenzie - Shawn Thornton

Brian Campbell - Aaron Ekblad
Jakub Kindl - Dmitry Kulikov
Mike Matheson - Alex Petrovic

Roberto Luongo
Al Montoya

Injuries and Scratches: David Bolland (lower body), Willie Mitchell (lower body), Vincent Trocheck (foot), Erik Gudbranson (concussion like symptoms), Steven Kampfer (ankle), Quinton Howdon (healthy), Greg McKegg (healthy)

Storm Debris

• Canes Gameday Hub [CH.com].
• Panthers SB Nation blog Litter Box Cats asked me three questions about the Canes, here's what I told them [Litter Box Cats].
• The Hurricanes close out their season amid questions of relocation, which just won't go away despite all reports to the contrary [N&O] [NBCSports] [Sportsnet].
• Cory Lavalette explores the breakthrough campaigns of the Canes top 20 prospects [Hockey's Future].
• The Canes 2015-16 season attendance shows late signs of promise [Today's Slapshot].
• Mike Solarte goes in-depth with Charlotte Checkers coach Mark Morris [TWC News].
• Checkers head down the final stretch, and a key injury may present a concern [GoCheckers].
• Panthers intent on entering playoffs on a winning note [Sun Sentinel].
• That's it, folks.