Carolina Hurricanes vs. Montreal Canadiens: Lineups and Game Discussion

The 2019-20 Carolina Hurricanes season will get going tonight as the Hurricanes welcome in Sebastian Aho’s unrequited admirers, the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs come to Raleigh for their opener after spending an offseason pursuing Aho and ultimately never finding a suitable alternative when their offer sheet failed to land them the star player they coveted. The opener will also be the first opportunity for the Fleury brothers, Hadyn and Cale, to face off against one another on the NHL level, as Cale Fleury will be making his NHL debut tonight for the Habs.

The Hurricanes enter with a new captain in Jordan Staal and a bunch of new offseason acquisitions in Ryan Dzingel, Erik Haula, Joel Edmundson, James Reimer and Jake Gardiner. Dzingel and Gardiner have been hobbled during the preseason, but are listed in the projected lineup for tonight.

Speaking of what’s happening tonight, here is the schedule of the pregame pomp and circumstance:

If you are affected by the issues on Spectrum cable receiving Fox Sports Carolinas, you’ll want to see this update that came in this afternoon from FSC:

Below are all of the probables for Rod Brind’Amour for tonight’s opener.

Andrei Svechnikov - Jordan Staal - Teuvo Teravainen
Nino Niederreiter - Sebastian Aho - Brock McGinn
Ryan Dzingel - Erik Haula - Jordan Martinook
Warren Foegele - Lucas Wallmark - Martin Necas

Jaccob Slavin - Dougie Hamilton
Joel Edmundson - Brett Pesce
Jake Gardiner - Haydn Fleury

Petr Mrazek
James Reimer

The Canadiens experienced an offseason with a number of ups and downs, and eventually they arrived at what they hope to be a roster that can vault them back into the playoff picture. They still possess one of the top netminder’s in the game in Carey Price, but added little in terms of proven NHL talent to the roster with Ben Chiarot and Nick Cousins among the acquired talent. Chiarot could provided a bit more production on a blueline that at times made life hard on their prized goalie. Nevertheless, a Vezina-quality season is a necessity for the Habs to be a contender in the coming year.

Below is their projected lineup for the opener:

Tomas Tatar - Phillip Danault - Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen - Max Domi - Nick Suzuki
Jonathan Drouin - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Joel Armia
Paul Byron - Nate Thompson - Jordan Weal

Victor Mete - Shea Weber
Ben Chiarot - Jeff Petry
Brett Kulak - Cale Fleury

Carey Price
Keith Kinkaid