Carolina Hurricanes vs. Boston Bruins: Lineups and Game Discussion

The Hurricanes (donning their Whalers’ throwbacks) roll into Boston for the final regular season meeting with the Bruins Tuesday night. Having split the two earlier meetings (2-3 loss in Oct, 5-3 win in Dec), the Canes (78pts) will look to extend their current winning streak to six games. Scoring first may be crucial in this one, as the Canes and Bruins are a combined 53-11-7 when getting the first marker.

We interrupt this Whalers Night game hub with the following message from the Hartford Yard Goats, proud AA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies:

Never fear, though: the Durham Bulls have the Canes’ backs:

We now resume your regularly scheduled lineups, already in progress.

The Canes’ lineup will be little changed from Saturday’s OT win against the Florida Panthers. Calvin de Haan is the big question mark, and he will likely be a game time decision. If he can go, Haydn Fleury will need to be reassigned to Charlotte, and will be joined in the not-playing pool with the odd man out in the fourth line forward rotation of Maenalanen/McKegg/Wallmark/Foegele. If Brind’Amour is, in fact, just rotating through the fourth line in the same order he’s used since Jordan Staal’s return from injury, Saku Maenalanen would be the next to take a seat. His last scratch was four games back against the Dallas Stars.

Below is the expected lineup for Rod Brind’Amour (7:00pm update: de Haan is back in the lineup; Haydn Fleury will be assigned to Charlotte)

Nino Niederreiter - Sebastian Aho - Justin Williams
Micheal Ferland - Jordan Staal - Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov - Jordan Martinook - Brock McGinn
Warren Foegele - Greg McKegg - Lucas Wallmark

Jaccob Slavin - Dougie Hamilton
Brett Pesce - Justin Faulk
Calvin de Haan - Trevor van Riemsdyk

Curtis McElhinney
Petr Mrazek

Scratches: Saku Maenalanen (healthy)

The Boston Bruins (87pts) are red hot. They’re coming off a February where the team went 11-0-2, their best month dating back to November 2011. The Bruins have secured points in 16 straight games, with their last regulation loss coming on January 19 to the New York Rangers. Led by their excellent power play which ranks 2nd in the NHL and converts at a rate of 26.8%, the Bruins boast three 20-goal scorers in their lineup. Brad Marchand (27), Patrice Bergeron (22), and Jake DeBrusk (21) will all suit up tonight.

In addition to the solid goal scoring, the Bruins have been excellent in their own end too. The Bruins rank 2nd in the NHL in goals allowed (161, 2.48/game). Jaroslav Halak has posted a 1.58 goals against average and .946 save percentage during his current 6 game point streak (4-0-2). Meanwhile, Tuukka Rask has a 1.87 goals against average and .933 during his current 17 game point streak (14-0-3).

If the Bruins have any concerns, they revolve around injuries. Their leading goal scorer, all-star David Pastrnak (31) will miss the game as he recovers from thumb surgery performed back in February. Zdeno Chara is listed as a game time decision as he deals with an upper body concern.

Below is the projected lineup for the Bruins:

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Danton Heinen
Jake Debrusk - David Krejci - Marcus Johansson
Peter Cehlarik - Charlie Coyle - David Backes
Joakim Nordstrom - Noel Acciari - Chris Wagner

Zdeno Chara - Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug - Brandon Carlo
John Moore - Matt Grzelcyk

Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask

Injuries and Scratches: David Pastrnak (thumb surgery), Kevan Miller (upper body), Sean Kuraly (Concussion)