Sabres at Hurricanes: Game Preview, Notes, Statistics, How to Watch

Buffalo Sabres (16-16-9) at Carolina Hurricanes (19-15-7)
Friday, January 13, 2017 - 7:30 pm
PNC Arena – Raleigh, NC
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Game Notes

• The first game of a back to back situation at home for the Hurricanes will feature the pesky Buffalo Sabres in their third and final matchup of the season. The Canes will go for the season sweep as they defeated the Sabres on December 17^th (2-1 via the shootout) in Raleigh and again on December 22^nd (3-1) in Buffalo.
• Cam Ward will get his 18^th straight start tonight in what will also be his 600^th NHL/Hurricanes game played. Ward holds a lifetime record of 285-220-74. Against Buffalo, Ward is 13-10-5 in 28 games with a 2.73 GAA.
• Jeff Skinner has 7 multi-point games this season and three 3-point games so far. He is one point shy of 300 NHL points and currently leads the team with 32 points this season.
• Derek Ryan has finally solidified his spot on an NHL roster. Ryan has energized the Hurricanes since being recalled on November 11^th. He already has 5 multi-point games this season and has helped created a dynamic line with Jeff Skinner and Victor Rask.
• The Sabres rank dead last on the penalty kill at just 73.9% this season. The Canes once top ten power play has dropped all the way to 18^th in the league now as it struggles to get back on track. This game could be decided by special teams and there is no better opportunity to score some PP goals than against the league’s worst PK team.
• The Canes are 12-1-1 in their last 14 inside PNC Arena, and with back to back home games in store over the weekend the boys in red and black would like to see that number go to 14-1-1 by the end of tomorrow night.
• And now if you’ll indulge an editorial comment: Attendance inside PNC Arena has been a well-known issue over the past few seasons and this year has been no exception. The Hurricanes organization did it to themselves by putting an under-performing product on the ice while continuing to raise prices on tickets. But the on ice product has finally turned around and prices have remained steady for a while now. This squad has chance to do something special and we as Caniacs NEED to show up and support them! Anyone who has been to an exciting game knows how loud it gets inside PNC with just 10,000 people and it is time to make it headache-loud with 18,000 screaming Caniacs united as the Canes push for their first playoff appearance since 2009!