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.<\/p>\n
The game is scheduled for 7:00 PM EDT.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
Of the four players received in the trades, only Jonathan Drouin and Justin Holl have experience in the NHL.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>!<\/p>\n Nonetheless, the Hurricanes managed to defeat them in the shootout, and Alexander Nikishin made history<\/a> as he broke the franchise\u2019s goals record for rookie defensemen.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Between the Pipes<\/p>\n Wednesday was a much-needed day off for the Hurricanes, so there were no practices to base a true projection on. However, that doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n As for the Blues, they\u2019ve leaned pretty heavily on Joel Hofer as of late. However, I don\u2019t imagine he will be the starter. He has played two games in a row, and Thursday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Expected Carolina Hurricanes Lines<\/p>\n Andrei Svechnikov \u2013 Sebastian Aho \u2013 Seth Jarvis<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Taylor Hall \u2013 Logan Stankoven \u2013 Jackson Blake<\/p>\n Nikolaj Ehlers \u2013 Jordan Staal \u2013 Jordan Martinook<\/p>\n William Carrier \u2013 Mark Jankowski \u2013 Eric Robinson<\/p>\n Defense<\/p>\n Jaccob Slavin \u2013 Jalen Chatfield<\/p>\n K\u2019Andre Miller \u2013 Sean Walker<\/p>\n Mike Reilly \u2013 Alexander Nikishin<\/p>\n Goaltenders<\/p>\n Brandon Bussi \/ Frederik Andersen<\/p>\n Expected Blues Lines<\/p>\n Dylan Holloway \u2013 Robert Thomas \u2013 Jimmy Snuggerud<\/p>\n Jake Neighbours \u2013 Dalibor Dvorsky \u2013 Jordan Kyrou<\/p>\n Jonathan Drouin \u2013 Pavel Buchnevich \u2013 Otto Stenberg<\/p>\n Alexey Toropchenko \u2013 Jack Finley \u2013 Pius Suter<\/p>\n Defense<\/p>\n Philip Broberg \u2013 Logan Mailloux<\/p>\n Theo Lindstein \u2013 Colton Parayko<\/p>\n Cam Fowler \u2013 Tyler Tucker<\/p>\n Goaltenders<\/p>\n Jordan Binnington \/ Joel Hofer<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Special Teams<\/p>\n Carolina Hurricanes power play: 22.4% (11th) St. Louis Blues power play: 17.1% (25th) Hurricanes Game Notes<\/p>\n Ahead of Tuesday\u2019s tilt against the Penguins, Rod Brind\u2019Amour spoke<\/a> with Hurricanes analyst Tripp Tracy about the status of Shayne Gostisbehere, who has missed the past two games due to injury<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cI was hoping it wouldn\u2019t be for too long. I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s going to be an extended period, but it certainly doesn\u2019t look like he\u2019ll be in tonight or possibly the next couple of games\u2026he\u2019s been kinda battling this all year.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s game.<\/p>\n How To Watch<\/p>\n TV: FanDuel Sports Network South
Carolina Hurricanes penalty kill: 79.4% (14th)<\/p>\n
St. Louis Blues penalty kill: 74.3% (29th)<\/p>\n
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 99.9 The Fan<\/p>\n