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What’s Kraken?
Now that I’ve gotten that joke out of my system, welcome to the preview. The Hurricanes are one of the NHL’s best teams and the Kraken are one of the NHL’s worst, so naturally, everyone is probably a little nervous about this one. The Kraken were victorious in the first meeting, winning 2-1, so the Hurricanes will be looking to even out the season series and pick up their second win in a four game home stand.
Obviously, this is the return of Morgan Geekie, Haydn Fleury and Ron Francis to Raleigh. The story I’m more interested in is the goaltending matchup. Frederik Andersen has been one of the best goalies in the NHL this season, while Philipp Grubauer has been one of the league’s worst. Of course, some of Grubauer’s struggles are due to the lackluster defense in front of him, but the Hurricanes will need to exploit both weaknesses early on. The Kraken are led in scoring by Jared McCann, who has 33 points in 48 games this season. Sebastian Aho has 33 assists and 57 points to lead the Hurricanes in scoring.
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
- The Hurricanes have points in each of their last ten home games.
- Sunday’s game against the Kraken will be Derek Stepan’s 800th NHL game if he draws into the lineup. He is also one point shy of 500 NHL points.
- Sunday’s game will be Teuvo Teravainen’s 500th NHL game.
- The Hurricanes’ next win will be the 1400th in franchise history.
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