Three games remain in the regular season for the Carolina Hurricanes. Tonight’s matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs will be yet another crucial game in determining whether the Canes break the streak of nine straight seasons without a playoff appearance.
With Calvin de Haan out of the lineup with an upper-body injury, Haydn Fleury has been recalled from Charlotte and will play tonight. Petr Mrazek will get the start in net, seeking his 100th career win. It also appears that head coach Rod Brind’Amour will swap Micheal Ferland and Andrei Svechnikov in a bid to shake Ferland out of his current slump.
The Maple Leafs have already secured a spot in the playoffs but still have plenty to play for. Home-ice advantage for one. After beating the NY Islanders 2-1 yesterday, they now hold the fourth overall position in the Eastern conference standings.
The Canes will need to have a good start against a team who is playing the second game of a back to back The Canes and Leafs are a combined 61-13-6 when scoring first this season.
Projected Lineups
Hurricanes
Nino Niederreiter - Sebastian Aho - Justin Williams
Micheal Ferland - Jordan Staal - Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov - Lucas Wallmark - Jordan Martinook
Warren Foegele - Greg McKegg - Brock McGinn
Jaccob Slavin - Dougie Hamilton
Brett Pesce - Justin Faulk
Haydn Fleury - Trevor van Riemsdyk
Petr Mrazek
Curtis McElhinney
Injuries and scratches: Calvin de Haan (upper body), Saku Mananlanen (healthy)
Maple Leafs
Zach Hyman - John Tavares - Mitch Marner
Kasperi Kapanen - Auston Matthews - William Nylander
Patrick Marleau - Nazem Kadri - Connor Brown
Trevor Moore - Frederik Gauthier - Tyler Ennis
Morgan Rielly - Ron Hainsey
Jake Muzzin - Nikita Zaitsev
Calle Rosen - Travis Dermott
Garret Sparks
Frederik Andersen
Injuries and scratches: Jake Gardiner (back), Andreas Johnsson (illness)