The Hurricanes are in a rut big time. Can a game against one of the league's worst teams help?
What - Game 28 (17-9-1)
When - 7 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 10
Where - Lenovo Center; Raleigh, NC
How to Watch - FanDuel Sports Network South
The Carolina Hurricanes, who are just 1-4-0 in their last five, are struggling something mighty as of late, but luckily for them, the San Jose Sharks (10-15-5), one of the worst teams in the league, is coming to town.
Carolina is coming off of a 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday and are struggling to score and stop goals at 5v5.
The team needs to find its game and quick, but perhaps the Sharks who just traded away their best goalie and don't have a competitive lineup can help them find their mojo again.
The Sharks have lost two their last two in a row by a combined score of 11-2, but before that had won three straight.
The defense is depth is pretty rough, but first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini is really starting to show how special of a player he is.
Add in strong seasons by Tyler Toffoli, Mikael Granlund and the young core of William Eklund and Fabian Zetterlund and there's enough to give a team trouble if they underestimate San Jose.
Streaks
- Sebastian Aho (4a), Shayne Gostisbehere (5a) and Martin Necas (2g, 3a) are on three-game point streaks.
Milestone Watch
- Andrei Svechnikov is two assists away from 200 career assists.
Game Notes
- Carolina is 26-20-0-2 all-time against San Jose. Last season, the Canes went 2-0 against the Sharks.
- Brent Burns played for San Jose from 20211 to 2022 were he had 594 points in 798 games. He is the franchise leader in goals, assists and points by a defenseman.
- Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky was Carolina's AHL coach from 2019-2022 were he won the Calder Cup twice.
Key Matchups
Starting Goalies
- Pyotr Kochetkov: 11-4-0; 0.893 Sv%; 2.68 GAA
- Vitek Vanecek: 3-6-1; 0.883 Sv%; 3.89 GAA
Leading Scorers
- Goals - Martin Necas (14) / Tyler Toffoli (11)
- Points - Martin Necas (42) / Mikael Granlund (30)
Power Play
- Carolina - 29.5% (2nd)
- San Jose - 17.5% (23rd)
Penalty Kill
- Carolina - 83.5% (4th)
- San Jose - 80.8% (10th)
Hurricanes Projected Lineup
Seth Jarvis - Sebastian Aho - Martin Necas
Eric Robinson - Jack Drury - Jackson Blake
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - Andrei Svechnikov
William Carrier - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Jack Roslovic
Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov - Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere - Sean Walker
Pyotr Kochetkov
Dustin Tokarski
Injuries and Scratches: Ty Smith, Frederik Andersen (LBI), Jesper Fast (neck)
Sharks Projected Lineup
William Eklund - Macklin Celebrini - Fabian Zetterlund
Luke Kunin - Alex Wennberg - Tyler Toffoli
Klim Kostin - Mikael Granlund - Ethan Cardwell
Carl Grundstrom - Nico Sturm - Ty Dellandrea
Jake Walman - Timothy Liljegren
Mario Ferraro - Cody Ceci
Henry Thrun - Jan Rutta
Vitek Vanecek
Alexander Georgiev
Injuries and Scratches: Jack Thompson, Nikolai Kovalenko, Logan Couture (groin), Barclay Goodrow (UBI), Will Smith (undisclosed), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (back)