Carolina Hurricanes vs. New Jersey Devils: Game Preview

Well folks, it’s that time of year. It’s time for Whalers Night, a night where the Hurricanes don the green and blue in a cash grab disguised as honoring the team’s heritage. Brass Bonanza replaces Raise Up, thankfully only for one night, and the arena DJ plays all of your favorite hits from the 80s and 90s.

This year’s opponent is the New Jersey Devils, a team that has had their struggles this season. They still managed to beat the Hurricanes soundly by a score of 7-4 exactly a week ago, though. The Hurricanes’ defense had one of its worst outings of the season in front of a goaltender making his first career start, so it was a largely forgettable game. However, it does bring up concerns that the Hurricanes’ defense may have more holes than we initially expected.

Perhaps the biggest story of Whalers Night is whether or not Dougie Hamilton is in the lineup for Saturday’s game. Hamilton has missed the past few weeks with a broken jaw that he suffered after getting hit in the face with a puck. If Hamilton is in the lineup, it’ll be his first game in Raleigh and his first game against the Hurricanes in general since leaving in free agency. The Hurricanes still manage to make me nervous any time a player is coming into town for a revenge game. Remember Jussi Jokinen’s hat trick against the Hurricanes after he was traded for a conditional 7th? Yeah, me too.

Game Notes

• This is Janne Kuokkanen’s first game against the Hurricanes since he was traded for Sami Vatanen at the 2020 trade deadline.
• Frederik Andersen is 12-1-0 in his last 13 appearances in net.
• Vincent Trocheck (4 games) and Derek Stepan (3 games) both carry point streaks heading into Satruday’s game.
• Saturday’s game against the Devils will be Brady Skjei’s 100th game for the Hurricanes.
• Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen both have eight points in the five games that the Hurricanes have worn Whalers jerseys in.