Carolina Hurricanes vs. Arizona Coyotes: Game Lineups and Discussion

The Carolina Hurricanes will play the penultimate game of a seven-game home stand Friday night, as they welcome the Arizona Coyotes into PNC Arena for the first meeting between the two teams this season.

So far on the home stand, Carolina is 3-2, and the Canes are coming off of a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers thanks to the overtime heroics of defenseman Dougie Hamilton.

Petr Mrazek will be back in net for the Canes Friday night. The netminder is coming off a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and will be looking to get back on the right track against the Coyotes.

Canes forward Teuvo Teravainen will have one final game Friday to impress as many people as possible in hopes of winning the All-Star Game’s Last Men In voting contest, which ends tonight at 11:59 p.m.

The Hurricanes recently re-signed veteran forward Justin Williams to the squad, but the team isn’t expecting him to make his debut any time soon. With Williams a healthy scratch, here is how Rod Brind’Amour’s team will lineup against the Coyotes:

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

Jaccob Slavin - Dougie Hamilton
Jake Gardiner - Brett Pesce
Joel Edmundson - Trevor van Riemsdyk

Petr Mrazek
James Reimer

Injuries and Scratches: Haydn Fleury (healthy), Justin Williams (healthy)

The Coyotes will be wrapping up a three-game east coast swing Friday night in Raleigh. So far on the trip the Coyotes are 1-1, and they are coming off a 4-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night.

This Coyotes team will look a little different than the Hurricanes are used to seeing in the past, as Arizona added superstar forward Taylor Hall in a blockbuster trade in December. Hall, the 2018 Hart Trophy winner, has scored three goals and assisted five more in his 11 games with the Coyotes.

Another name the Canes will be on the lookout for is Lawson Crouse, who enters the evening on a three-game goal streak. Like the Hurricanes, the Coyotes have a player fighting to win his division’s Last Men In vote. Clayton Keller is on the Pacific Division ballot, and has 12 goals and 20 assists on the season.

The Hurricanes will avoid the Coyotes’ lone All-Star, goalie Darcy Kuemper, who suffered a lower body injury a few weeks ago. Instead, Antti Raanta will be in net. Raanta is also coming off a short-term injury.

Here is how head coach Rick Tocchet’s team will line up:

Taylor Hall - Christian Dvorak - Conor Garland
Clayton Keller - Carl Soderberg-Nick Schmaltz
Lawson Crouse - Derek Stepan - Phil Kessel
Michael Grabner - Brad Richardson - Vinnie Hinostroza

Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Jason Demers
Jakob Chychrun - Alex Goligoski
Jordan Oesterle - Ilya Lyubushkin

Antti Raanta
Adin Hill

Injuries and Scratches: Niklas Hjalmarsson (lower body), Darcy Kuemper (lower body), Christian Fischer (healthy), Barrett Hayton (healthy), Kyle Capobianco (healthy), Ivan Prosvetov (healthy)