Carolina Hurricanes vs Ottawa Senators: Game Preview & Storm Advisory

The Carolina Hurricanes are settling back in to a normal schedule this weekend after all the excitement of the Stadium Series game last week. They kicked off this stretch with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday night against the St. Louis Blues and now they will turn their attention to the Ottawa Senators.

Carolina is riding a four-game win streak and have points in 14 of their last 15 games. Meanwhile, Ottawa is 3-2-1 in February and lost their last game on Monday 3-1 against the Boston Bruins.

The Canes are in the middle of a stretch where they are playing six of seven games against current non-playoff teams so it’s vital they keep their heads down and take care of business because the New Jersey Devils are breathing down their necks in the Metro Division.

While no game should ever be an expected win, in order to be one of the best teams in the league they must continue to defeat teams like Ottawa. But that won’t be easy as the Senators are pesky and have two of the best young players in the league in Brady Thachuk and Tim Stutzle.

Games Notes

• Brent Burns has a four-game point streak and over his career has 22 points in 21 games against the Senators.
• Andrei Svechnikov ended his 19-game goal drought during the Hurricanes’ win on Tuesday which was the longest drought of his career. It’s a pivotal stretch for the young Russian as the Canes need him to return to the goal scoring prowess he showed earlier this year.
• Jaccob Slavin will play in his 559th career game tonight tying him with Justin Faulk for second most by a defenseman in Hurricanes history. He needs 171 more to pass Glen Wesley for first place.
• This is the ninth of 14 back-to-back games for the Canes as they will play the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow night at home.
• The Senators have three players (Thachuk- 60, Stutzle - 59, and Claude Giroux - 53) who would all lead the Hurricanes in points.
• Ottawa excels with their special teams with both of their units ranking in the top eight in the NHL. Their power play is particularly dangerous ranking fourth in the league at 25.7%.

In Case You Missed It

• Metropolitan Division Weekly Roundup: More Trades and Posturing for the Deadline
• Canes Country’s Trade Deadline Big Board: Trade Chips

Storm Advisory

• Some very impressive numbers from the Stadium Series game:

• Scott Burnside sat down with Tom Dundon to discuss his first five years owning the Hurricanes. [Canes]
• Speaking of Burnside, he joins Mike and Shane on this weeks Canes Cast to discuss the Stadium Series week. [Canes]
• The Boston Bruins have acquired Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway in 3-team deal. [ESPN]
• When an NHL player gets traded, all that remains are the memories — and a whole lotta ‘gitch’. [The Athletic $]
• Patrick Kane to the New York Rangers is almost a done deal according to one source. [NYI Now]