Rachel Barkley
The Carolina Hurricanes will close out their Western Conference road trip Saturday as they play the Calgary Flames for the final time of the regular season. The match comes one day removed from the trade deadline.
The game is scheduled to begin at 10 PM EST.
The Hurricanes were uncharacteristically quiet during the trade deadline and only traded for enforcer Nic Deslauriers for a notably low price. Meanwhile, the Flames were very active during Friday’s frenzy, and in the days leading up to it.
Throughout the week, the organization parted ways with Jeremie Poirier, MacKenzie Weegar, Jacob Battaglia, and Nazem Kadri, while they welcomed in Gavin White, Olli Maatta, Jonathan Castagna, Ryan Strome, Brennan Othmann, Victor Olofsson, and unsigned prospect Maxmilian Curran.
Saturday’s game will undoubtedly see Brandon Bussi return to the net for the Hurricanes, as Andersen played Friday (and very well, if I might add). Bussi’s save percentage is .901 with a goals against average of 2.29 across a 25-3-1 record.
Meanwhile, the Flames will likely have Dustin Wolf man the pipes as they alternate goalies. In his last game, Wolf was replaced by Devin Cooley after allowing four goals before the end of the first period. This season, Wolf’s save percentage is .898 with a goals against average of 2.97 across a 17-23-3 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
Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Defense
Jaccob Slavin – Jalen Chatfield
K’Andre Miller – Sean Walker
Alexander Nikishin
Goaltenders
Brandon Bussi / Alexander Nikishin
Expected Flames Lines
Blake Coleman Mikael Backlund Matt Coronato
Yegor Sharangovich Morgan Frost Victor Olofsson
Connor Zary Ryan Strome Joel Farabee
Ryan Lomberg Martin Pospisil Adam Klapka
Defense
Kevin Bahl Zach Whitecloud
Yan Kuznetsov Zayne Parekh
Joel Hanley Brayden Pachal
Goaltenders
Dustin Wolf / Devin Cooley
Special Teams
Carolina Hurricanes power play: 22.2% (12th, down two spots from the previous game)
Carolina Hurricanes penalty kill: 79.7% (14th, down one spot from the previous game)
Calgary Flames power play: 15.8% (31st)
Calgary Flames penalty kill: 82.2% (7th)
Hurricanes Game Notes
In the previous game against the Edmonton Oilers, the Hurricanes lost defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to injury. Due to this, the Hurricanes are likely to play both Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Mark Jankowski, rolling with 13 forwards and five defensemen.
Logan Stankoven’s line remains hot.
How To Watch
TV: FanDuel Sports Network South
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 99.9 The Fan
