Rachel Barkley
The Carolina Hurricanes will welcome the St. Louis Blues to the Lenovo Center on Thursday, which will close out their season series against them. The last time they played was January 13th, where Blues goaltender Joel Hofer shut them out three-to-zilch.
The game is scheduled for 7:00 PM EDT.
The team Carolina faces will be different from their last meeting, as the Blues will be without captain Brayden Schenn after he was dealt to the New York Islanders at the deadline. Additionally, former Hurricanes co-captain Justin Faulk also departed St. Louis at the deadline, as he was sent to the Detroit Red Wings.
Of the four players received in the trades, only Jonathan Drouin and Justin Holl have experience in the NHL.
Tuesday, the Hurricanes played a notably wild game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, in which both teams exchanged the lead throughout the night until the Penguins overcame a two-goal deficit with six skaters in the final minutes to force overtime. I blame Neil Diamond!
Nonetheless, the Hurricanes managed to defeat them in the shootout, and Alexander Nikishin made history as he broke the franchise’s goals record for rookie defensemen.
Between the Pipes
Wednesday was a much-needed day off for the Hurricanes, so there were no practices to base a true projection on. However, that doesn’t stop me from doing my best to give you a well-thought-out guess. I care about you guys, and I know this is a big topic we all want to know more about.
Tuesday, Frederik Andersen took the crease against the Penguins, and honestly did well. The Hurricanes have utilized him more since the Olympics, likely allowing him more time to play to build his confidence and condition his body for the postseason. With that being said, Brandon Bussi has been good, but his game has been a little shaky since the return from the Olympic break, as anticipated. Momentum is one heck of a force, and the three-week break disrupted that. Now he faces a new point of development in overcoming these struggles at the top level, something that every netminder deals with early in their NHL career.
If the alternating tandem continues, Bussi should start unless they opt to play him versus the high-speed, high-pressure Tampa Bay Lightning, whom he performed well against in the first game back from the Olympic break. His save percentage this season is .898, with a goals against average of 2.38 across a 25-4-1 record.
As for the Blues, they’ve leaned pretty heavily on Joel Hofer as of late. However, I don’t imagine he will be the starter. He has played two games in a row, and Thursday’s game will be the start of a back-to-back set, which includes travel. With the second team of the set, the Edmonton Oilers, being a Western Conference rival, it is logical to think that they will want Hofer to play that game.
Jordan Binnington will likely start against the Hurricanes. This season, he has a save percentage of .868, with a goals against average of 3.55 across a 9-18-6 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
Mike Reilly – Alexander Nikishin
Goaltenders
Brandon Bussi / Frederik Andersen
Expected Blues Lines
Dylan Holloway – Robert Thomas – Jimmy Snuggerud
Jake Neighbours – Dalibor Dvorsky – Jordan Kyrou
Jonathan Drouin – Pavel Buchnevich – Otto Stenberg
Alexey Toropchenko – Jack Finley – Pius Suter
Defense
Philip Broberg – Logan Mailloux
Theo Lindstein – Colton Parayko
Cam Fowler – Tyler Tucker
Goaltenders
Jordan Binnington / Joel Hofer
Special Teams
Carolina Hurricanes power play: 22.4% (11th)
Carolina Hurricanes penalty kill: 79.4% (14th)
St. Louis Blues power play: 17.1% (25th)
St. Louis Blues penalty kill: 74.3% (29th)
Hurricanes Game Notes
Ahead of Tuesday’s tilt against the Penguins, Rod Brind’Amour spoke with Hurricanes analyst Tripp Tracy about the status of Shayne Gostisbehere, who has missed the past two games due to injury:
“I was hoping it wouldn’t be for too long. I’m not sure it’s going to be an extended period, but it certainly doesn’t look like he’ll be in tonight or possibly the next couple of games…he’s been kinda battling this all year.”
Additionally, in the last game, Nikolaj Ehlers left the ice in the first period after sustaining a knee injury. However, he did return at the start of the second period and played the rest of the game. Nonetheless, he remains someone to keep an eye on going into the game against St. Louis.
Meanwhile, Nicolas Deslauriers has not yet debuted for the Hurricanes. It is unclear when he could enter the lineup. Nonetheless, he continues to practice with the team and even took warmups before Tuesday’s game.
How To Watch
TV: FanDuel Sports Network South
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 99.9 The Fan
