Carolina Hurricanes at Florida Panthers: Lineups and Game Discussion

After seeing their four-game win streak snapped against the Maple Leafs at home Sunday, the Hurricanes will look to begin a new winning streak with tonight’s showdown with their former Southeast Division rival in south Florida.

The Hurricanes’ lineup is a bit in flux tonight. Antti Raanta will start in net with Frederik Andersen suffering an injury in Tuesday’s practice. The newly-recalled Pytor Kochetkov will back him up.

The top nine up front and top four on the blue line will be the same, but questions remain on the fourth line and third pairing. Jack Drury and Paul Stastny rotated between Derek Stepan and Stefan Noesen at today’s morning skate, and Rod Brind’Amour said either could play. On the third pairing, Dylan Coghlan and Calvin de Haan rotated next to Jalen Chatfield.

Here’s how Carolina projects to line up tonight:

Teuvo Teravainen — Sebastian Aho — Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov — Jesperi Kotkaniemi — Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook — Jordan Staal — Jesper Fast
Stefan Noesen — Jack Drury — Derek Stepan

Jaccob Slavin — Brent Burns
Brady Skjei — Brett Pesce
Dylan Coghlan — Jalen Chatfield

Antti Raanta
Pyotr Kochetkov

Injured: Frederik Andersen (undisclosed), Ondrej Kase (IR, concussion)

The Hurricanes will face Spencer Knight between the pipes tonight. They’ll also see a familiar face, as former captain Eric Staal, set to center the Panthers’ fourth line, will play his 1,300th NHL game tonight.

With Marc Staal playing on Florida’s third defensive pairing, this will be the fourth game in the last decade — and first since 2016, to feature three or more Staal brothers.

The Cats will be without one of their top players, as Matthew Tkachuk is serving the second of a two-game suspension for poking Jonathan Quick in the face with his stick Sunday. Here’s Florida’s full projected lineup:

Carter Verhaeghe — Aleksander Barkov — Colin White
Eetu Luostarinen — Sam Bennett - Nick Cousins
Ryan Lomberg — Anton Lundell — Sam Reinhart
Rudolfs Balcers — Eric Staal — Aleksi Heponiemi

Gustav Forsling — Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura — Radko Gudas
Matt Kiersted — Marc Staal

Spencer Knight
Sergei Bobrovsky

Scratched: Lucas Carlsson

Injured: Anthony Duclair (torn Achilles), Patric Hornqvist (upper body), Aaron Ekblad (groin)

Suspended: Matthew Tkachuk