The Canes look to bounce back in their first game of the year against the Blue Jackets.
What - Game 20 (14-5-0)
When - 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23
Where - Nationwide Arena; Columbus, OH
How to Watch - FanDuel Sports Network South, FanDuel Sports Network Ohio
The Carolina Hurricanes head to Ohio to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets (8-9-2) in another Metro division showdown.
After losing 4-2 to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, the Canes are now 6-1-0 against the division, but that's still pretty good.
The Hurricanes have long dominated the Blue Jackets, with multiple comeback wins in the last couple of seasons too.
However, the Blue Jackets are starting to string together a few wins, most recently a 7-6 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning, a game in which defenseman Zach Werenski had five points including the OT winner.
Columbus has found a bit of scoring, ranking 10th in the league with 3.42 goals per game, however it's still a mess defensively/in goal as the Blue Jackets have allowed the third most goals per game in the entire league (3.58).
Perhaps we'll be treated to another high-scoring contest tonight.
Streaks
- Dmitry Orlov (3a) has points in three consecutive games.
Milestone Watch
- Sean Walker is one point shy of 100 career points.
Game Notes
- Carolina is 33-19-8 all-time against Columbus and last season, the Canes went 3-1-0 against the Blue Jackets.
- In their last 17 meetings, Carolina is 12-2-3.
- Three current Hurricanes played for Columbus last season: Spencer Martin, Eric Robinson and Jack Roslovic.
- Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell was with the Canes organization for 10 years and was the GM for six seasons before leaving this offseason.
- The late Johnny Gaudreau scored his final NHL goal against the Hurricanes in the final regular season game last season.
Key Matchups
Starting Goalies
- Pyotr Kochetkov: 10-2-0; 0.907 Sv%; 2.30 GAA
- Elvis Merzlikins: 5-5-1; 0.895 Sv%; 3.02 GAA
Leading Scorers
- Goals - Martin Necas & Jack Roslovic (11) / Sean Monahan (7)
- Points - Martin Necas (31) / Sean Monahan & Zach Werenski (19)
Power Play
- Carolina - 24.2% (7th)
- Columbus - 18% (19th)
Penalty Kill
- Carolina - 83.3% (7th)
- Columbus - 78% (20th)
Hurricanes Projected Lineup
Jackson Blake - Sebastian Aho - Jack Roslovic
Andrei Svechnikov - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - William Carrier
Tyson Jost - Jack Drury - Eric Robinson
Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov - Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere - Sean Walker
Pyotr Kochetkov
Spencer Martin
Injuries and Scratches: Ty Smith, Seth Jarvis (UBI), Frederik Andersen (knee), Jesper Fast (neck)
Blue Jackets Projected Lineup
Dmitri Voronkov - Sean Monahan - Kirill Marchenko
James van Riemdyk - Adam Fantilli - Kent Johnson
Yegor Chinakov - Cole Sillinger - Mathieu Olivier
Zach Aston-Reese - Sean Kuraly - Justin Danforth
Zach Werenski -Dante Fabbro
Damon Severson - Ivan Provorov
Jack Johnson - Jake Christiansen
Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov
Injuries and Scratches: Jordan Harris, Kevin Labanc, Erik Gudbranson (shoulder), Boone Jenner (shoulder)