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It’s part two of the Carolina Hurricanes vs Dallas Stars match-up in Big D. After getting some timely goals to claw their way to a come-from-behind victory on Thursday, the Canes will look to execute a full 60-minute effort tonight and attempt to go 4-0 against Dallas so far this season.
Dallas has now dropped four in a row and six out of their last seven after they started the year 4-0. Three of those losses have been to the Hurricanes, who are looking to start a winning streak. Despite having only three losses on the season, the Canes sit fourth in the Central Division (third in points percentage) and with every game being a four-point swing they need to continue to string together wins to stay the pace.
The emergence of first-line Brock McGinn has been a shining light for the Canes, who are still trying to get some of their bigger name players like Teuvo Teravainen going. McGinn has scored in four straight games, which is a career high for the former second-round pick. Along with McGinn, Jordan Staal and Nino Niederreiter have been offensive mainstays so far this year. Niederreiter is tied for the team lead in goals (6) while Staal is tied for the team lead in assists (8).
For Dallas, Joe Pavelski continues to lead the way with 16 points in 11 games. Pavelski scored the Stars’ third goal on Thursday against Carolina and is a danger every time he is on the ice.
Vital Statistics
| Category | Hurricanes | Blue Jackets |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Hurricanes | Blue Jackets |
| Record | 21-7-3 | 13-13-7 |
| Goals/Game | 3.23 | 2.54 |
| Goals Against/Game | 2.48 | 3.12 |
| Shots/Game | 31.52 | 28.70 |
| Face Off Win % | 54.4% | 46.2% |
| Power Play % (Rank) | 30.6% (1st) | 14.8% (26th) |
| Penalty Kill % (Rank) | 82.9% (9th) | 74.0% (26th) |
| ES Corsi For % | 53.04% | 46.16% |
| ES PDO | 100.96 | 99.42 |
| PIM/Game | 07:21 | 06:43 |
Goaltender #1
| Category | James Reimer | Joonas Korpisalo |
|---|---|---|
| Category | James Reimer | Joonas Korpisalo |
| Record | 12-4-1 | 8-10-5 |
| Save % | 0.909 | .900 |
| GAA | 2.68 | 2.98 |
Goaltender #2
| Category | Alex Nedeljkovic | Elvis Merzlikins |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Alex Nedeljkovic | Elvis Merzlikins |
| Record | 7-2-2 | 5-3-2 |
| Save % | .930 | .912 |
| GAA | 1.96 | 2.91 |
Game Notes
- The Hurricanes may get forward Martin Necas back tonight. Rod Brind’Amour said the team was “hopeful” when discussing Necas’ chance of returning to the lineup tonight.
- Jordan Martinook was not at practice yesterday, although Brind’Amour described it as a maintenance day for the alternate captain.
- Petr Mrazek practiced with the team and took some shots while he continues to rehab from surgery. Brind’ Amour said it will still take “some time” to get Mrazek back to 100% but it appears he is ahead of schedule.
- As mentioned above, Brock McGinn has scored in four straight games for the first time in his NHL career. He’ll look to extend it to five tonight.
- With his two points on Thursday, Jordan Staal now has 300 points in a Hurricanes uniform. While it’s still extremely early in the season, Staal is currently over a point-per-game player and is on pace for 68 (!) points.
- The Stars’ powerplay ranks fifth in the league, yet the Hurricanes were able to stifle them on Thursday. You never want to mess with fire too much though so staying out of the box tonight will be important for the Canes.
- The Canes don’t have a back-to-back situation until next weekend and with Alex Nedeljkovic’s solid performance against Columbus, you have to wonder if he will get a chance to play either tonight or on Monday.
- This marks the fourth game between the Hurricanes and Stars, meaning they will be halfway through their season series after tonight. However, they won’t face off again until April 3rd in Raleigh before completing the series in Dallas on April 27th.