Carolina Hurricanes vs Buffalo Sabres: Preview, Lineups and Game Discussion

The Carolina Hurricanes look to bounce back after a 3-0 loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday night, today against the Buffalo Sabres. This is the final meeting of the two teams with the Canes winning the two previous matchups this season. The Canes are also 14-1-0 in their last 15 games against Buffalo.

The game’s importance grew after Thursday’s loss. The Canes’ lead over the New Jersey Devils is just a single point but still with a game in hand. The Devils host the Boston Bruins tomorrow at 8:00 pm.

The Sabres come to Raleigh motivated. They are on the edge of the playoff bubble and will need to win out and get help to make the postseason. A loss tonight would all but send them out of the playoffs for the 12th straight season.

Game Notes:

• Martin Necas scored his fourth overtime winner of the season vs. OTT, tied with David Pastrnak for the league lead in 2022- 23. He has passed Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho who both scored three for the most overtime goals by any Whalers/Hurricanes skater in a single campaign.
• Hurricanes blueliners have now scored in 29 of the team’s 50 wins this season, and since the start of the new year, Carolina is 18-2-4 when defensemen light the lamp.
• Milestones within reach: Jordan Martinook is two assists shy of 100 career NHL assists, Jordan Martinook is two points shy of 100 Hurricanes points, Brady Skjei is two points shy of 200 career NHL points, Jordan Staal is five points shy of 400 Hurricanes points.
• Jesperi Kotkaniemi needs just one more point to post the first 40-point campaign of his NHL career. Kotkaniemi could become the fifth Hurricanes skater to register 40 points in 2022-23 and the 12th different skater to eclipse the 40-point mark with Carolina in any of the last three seasons

Projected Lineup:

Hurricanes

Teuvo Teravainen - Sebastian Aho - Martin Necas

Stefan Noesen - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Jesse Puljujarvi

Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - Jesper Fast

Jack Drury - Derek Stepan - Seth Jarvis

Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns

Brady Skjei - Brett Pesce

Shayne Gostisbehere - Jalen Chatfield

Frederik Andersen

Antti Raanta

Scratches: Paul Stastny, Calvin de Haan, Dylan Coghlan

Injuries: Ondrej Kase (Concussion), Max Pacioretty (Achilles), Andrei Svechnikov (Knee)

Sabres

Jeff Skinner - Casey Mittelstadt - Alex Tuch

Jordan Greenway - Dylan Cozens - Tage Thompson

John Jason Peterka - Tyson Jost - Jack Quinn

Zemgus Girgensons - Peyton Krebs - Kyle Okposo

Rasmus Dahlin - Mattias Samuelsson

Owen Power - Henri Jokiharju

Riley Stillman - Ilya Lyubushkin

Devon Levi

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen