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Coming off a wonderful shorthanded 5-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings, the Carolina Hurricanes will host the Kings Saturday with some new reinforcements added to the mix.
The Canes, who played with just 16 skaters Thursday, recalled Josh Leivo and C.J. Smith on an emergency basis Friday, which will allow Carolina to dress a full roster Saturday night (albeit one still missing six normal starters).
The Hurricanes had to add two more people to COVID protocol Friday, though no more players. Goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder and a member of the support staff were added to the list, joining Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Staal, Steven Lorentz, Seth Jarvis, Ian Cole and a member of the training staff.
The Kings are on a four-game point streak, coming off a 4-1 win in Florida against the Panthers and an overtime loss to the Lightning in Tampa. Los Angeles is dealing with its own, smaller COVID issue, as defenseman Drew Doughty was placed in protocol Thursday. They are also without Andreas Athanasiou, who was placed on IR Thursday with a lower-body injury.
Vital Statistics
| Category | Hurricanes | Bruins |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Hurricanes | Bruins |
| Record | 54-20-8 | 51-26-5 |
| Goals/Game | 3.38 | 3.08 |
| Goals Against/Game | 2.44 | 2.66 |
| Shots/Game | 34.12 | 36.12 |
| Face Off Win % | 53.9% | 54.2% |
| Power Play % (Rank) | 22.0% (13th) | 21.2% (15th) |
| Penalty Kill % (Rank) | 88.0% (1st) | 81.3% (9th) |
| ES Corsi For % | 43.86% | 56.14% |
| ES PDO | 113.44 | 86.56 |
| PIM/Game | 12:00 | 22:00 |
Goaltender #1
| Category | Frederik Andersen | Linus Ullmark |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Frederik Andersen | Linus Ullmark |
| Record | 35-14-3 | 26-10-2 |
| Save % | .922 | .917 |
| GAA | 2.17 | 2.45 |
Goaltender #2
| Category | Antti Raanta | Jeremy Swayman |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Antti Raanta | Jeremy Swayman |
| Record | 15-5-4 | 23-14-3 |
| Save % | .912 | .914 |
| GAA | 2.45 | 2.41 |
Game Notes
- This is the second and final meeting between the Canes and Kings this season. Carolina won the first game in the (then still) Staples Center 5-4, with Martin Necas scoring the game-winning goal in the final minute of the second period.
- Carolina is 36-35-8-3 against the Kings all time, with a 22-13-5-1 home record against Los Angeles.
- Saturday night’s game will be the 200th NHL game of Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s career. To date, he has 73 NHL points in 199 games.
- As he has been for quite some time, Brady Skjei is just one assist away from NHL assist number 100. He recorded assist 99 back on Nov. 26 against the Flyers.
- A couple more assist milestones not likely to happen Saturday but still possible: Teuvo Teravainen is three assists away from his 200th with the Hurricanes, and Tony DeAngelo is three assists away from his 100th NHL assist.
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