Game Preview: Kraken at Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes return to Raleigh after a tough road trip, seeking to crawl back to an even record on the season.

The Canes will take two steps forward and one step back with personnel.

The long-anticipated return of Andrei Svechnikov could happen tonight.

After ditching the yellow no-contact jersey earlier in the week, head coach Rod Brind’Amour had this to say after Wednesday’s practice:

When he gives us the green light, we’ll definitely chuck him in there.

Frederik Andersen left the game in San Jose after taking a shot to the dome, but the goalie should be in the starter’s crease today.

It was announced yesterday that Brett Pesce underwent surgery and has a 2-4 week timeline for return:

Although there were improvements on the defensive end against Tampa, the Canes defense still has a long way to go.

Despite the shorthanded goals, the penalty kill is abysmal. And it does not help that Carolina leads the NHL in penalties.

There were at least nine different defensive pairings on Tuesday night. The Canes are struggling to find the right combination between the defensemen with newcomers and missing Pesce.

Those defensive issues are compounded by being held scoreless for the first time this season during the last game.

Sebastian Aho returned to the lineup after missing three games with an injury but played on the wing. Let’s see if Aho returns to center tonight.

Seattle’s first win of the season came against Carolina one week ago, and the Kraken have split the two games since Thursday.

On Tuesday, Seattle coughed up a 3-1 lead in the third versus Detroit. The Kraken won in overtime, with Jordan Eberle scoring with just five seconds left in the three-on-three extra stanza.

Jaden Schwartz scored twice and has three goals in three games.

Here’s how to check out the action tonight:

• Time: 7:00 PM ET
• Location: PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC
• TV: Bally Sports South with Mike Maniscalco, play-by-play; Tripp Tracy, color analyst; Hanna Yates, in-game reporter; Shane Willis, analyst.
• Radio: 99.9 The Fan
• Streaming: Bally Sports Plus
• Line: ML: CAR -198; PL: CAR +1.5 +136