Carolina Hurricanes at Toronto Maple Leafs: Lineups and Game Discussion

After eight days off for the All-Star Break, the Hurricanes are back in action tonight with a trip north of the border. Believe it or not, this is the team’s first trip to Toronto since the famed David Ayres game on Feb. 22, 2020.

It’ll be a homecoming for Frederik Andersen, who played five seasons as a Maple Leaf before joining the Hurricanes.

The Canes could again be without Teuvo Teravainen, who is a game-time decision with a lower-body injury. Brendan Smith will draw back in on the blue line in place of Ethan Bear, and the team will be without forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who entered the league’s COVID-19 protocol Sunday.

Here’s how Carolina projects to line up for this one:

Jordan Martinook - Sebastian Aho - Martin Necas
Andrei Svechnikov - Vincent Trocheck - Seth Jarvis
Nino Niederreiter - Jordan Staal - Jesper Fast
Steven Lorentz - Derek Stepan - Teuvo Teravainen*

Jaccob Slavin - Tony DeAngelo
Brady Skjei - Brett Pesce
Ian Cole - Brendan Smith

Frederik Andersen
Antti Raanta

COVID Protocol: Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Healthy Scratch: Ethan Bear

The Hurricanes will see a familiar face going against them in net tonight, as Petr Mrazek, who played the last three seasons as a Hurricane, will make his first start against them.

Toronto will be without blueliner Jake Muzzin, but looks to have a mostly healthy lineup otherwise. Here’s how Toronto lineup in practice yesterday:

Michael Bunting - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Alex Kerfoot - John Tavares - William Nylander
Ilya Mikheyev - David Kampf - Ondrej Kase
Pierre Engvall - Jason Spezza - Wayne Simmonds

Morgan Reilly - TJ Brodie
Rasmus Sandin - Justin Holl
Travis Dermott - Timothy Liljegren

Petr Mrazek
Jack Campbell