Rachel Barkley
The Carolina Hurricanes continue their final western conference road trip of the season as they face the Vancouver Canucks Wednesday. It will be the final game for both teams before the NHL Trade Deadline.
The game is scheduled to begin at 10:00 PM EST.
It is currently unknown who all will be on the roster for the game, and who will be missing. Jesperi Kotkaniemi has been absent from the bench since the Hurricanes’ return to play after the Olympics. Meanwhile, Elias Pettersson (the forward, that is) has been one of the biggest names on the NHL’s trade board. There is a possibility that the Canucks’ top-line centerman could be scratched to help facilitate a trade.
The Hurricanes started their trip off on the wrong foot, suffering their first regulation loss since January 13th to the Seattle Kraken, which ended a 12-game point streak, goaltender Frederik Andersen’s six-game point streak, and was the first that defenseman Jaccob Slavin had experienced since last season.
As for goaltenders, the expected starter for Carolina is Brandon Bussi, following Andersen’s start in the past two consecutive games – something he hadn’t had since October. Bussi has held the line well, posting a .904 save percentage and a 2.23 goals against average across a 24-3-1 record.
Meanwhile, the Canucks will likely give Kevin Lankinen the crease, as Nikita Tolopilo manned the net in the last game; a 6-1 loss to the Dallas Stars. Lankinen’s stats this season have been the worst he’s posted in his career, though hardly to any fault of his own. His save percentage is .875 with a goals against average 3.69 across a 7-20-4 record.
Expected Carolina Hurricanes Lines
Andrei Svechnikov – Sebastian Aho – Seth Jarvis
Taylor Hall – Logan Stankoven – Jackson Blake
Nikolaj Ehlers – Jordan Staal – Jordan Martinook
William Carrier – Mark Jankowski – Eric Robinson
Defense
Jaccob Slavin – Jalen Chatfield
K’Andre Miller – Sean Walker
Shayne Gostisbehere – Alexander Nikishin
Goaltenders
Brandon Bussi / Frederik Andersen
Expected Canucks Lines
Evander Kane – Elias Pettersson – Jake DeBrusk
Drew O’Connor – Marco Rossi – Brock Boeser
Liam Ohgren – Teddy Blueger – Conor Garland
Nils Hoglander – David Kampf – Linus Karlsson
Defense
Elias Nils Pettersson – Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson – Tom Willander
Zeev Buium – Pierre-Olivier Joseph
Goaltenders
Kevin Lankinen / Nikita Tolopilo
Special Teams
Carolina Hurricanes power play: 21.9% (13th)
Carolina Hurricanes penalty kill: 80.7% (10th, up one spot from the previous game)
Vancouver Canucks power play: 17.7% (24th)
Vancouver Canucks penalty kill: 70.6% (32nd)
Hurricanes Game Notes
Carolina’s previous game saw a notable difficulty in generating offense. Though jet-lag and tired legs were a likely culprit, it will be something to watch in the upcoming game.
Monday, Eric Robinson took a hard hit from Kraken defenseman Cale Fleury. He appeared to be shaken up as he made his way to the bench and did not play another shift afterwards. However, neither did his fourth-line cohorts Mark Jankowski and William Carrier, as the Hurricanes were down a goal with under eight minutes left to play.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi is likely to remain a healthy scratch.
How To Watch
TV: FanDuel Sports Network South
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 99.9 The Fan
