Hurricanes battle slump and injuries against streaking Red Wings. Can Carolina right the ship in this crucial Eastern Conference clash?
What - Game 37 (22-11-3)
When - 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 27
Where - Lenovo Center; Raleigh, NC
How to Watch - FanDuel Sports Network South, FanDuel Sports Network Detroit
The Carolina Hurricanes and Detroit Red Wings will square off tonight, as the top two teams in the East faceoff coming out of the holiday break.
Carolina is currently on a three-game skid, where they've blown multi-goal leads in every single loss.
Most recently, the Hurricanes blew a 2-0 lead to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, allowing five goals against in the third period alone.
The Canes have certainly been in a rut and while scoring has been there, defense has certainly not.
With injuries to key players as well, the team is going to have to dig deep to get the ship righted.
Detroit enters tonight's game on a three-game winning streak, most recently defeating the Dallas Stars 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday.
Streaks
- Andrei Svechnikov (2g, 4a) has points in four straight games.
- Jordan Staal (1g, 2a) and Eric Robinson (2g, 1a) have points in three straight games.
Milestone Watch
- Jordan Martinook is one goal away from 100 career goals.
- Jaccob Slavin is one point away from 300 career points.
- K'Andre Miller is three games shy of 400 career games played.
- Sebastian Aho is four goals away from 300 career goals.
- Jesperi Kotkaniemi is four games shy of 500 career games played.
Game Notes
- Carolina is 47-47-8-6 all-time against Detroit, including going 2-1-0 last season.
- The Hurricanes are 9-3-1 in the two team's last 13 meetings.
- Nikolaj Ehlers (6g, 16pts in 15gp) is a point-per-game player for his career against the Red Wings.
- Shayne Gostisbehere played one season in Detroit (2023-24), registering 56 points in 81 games.
Key Matchups
Projected Starting Goalies
- Brandon Bussi: 11-1-1; 0.913 Sv%; 2.11 GAA
- John Gibson: 12-7-1; 0.891 Sv%; 3.01 GAA
Leading Scorers
- Goals - Seth Jarvis (19) / Dylan Larkin & Alex DeBrincat (20)
- Points - Sebastian Aho (32) / Lucas Raymond (41)
Power Play
- Carolina - 16.8% (24th)
- Detroit - 24.8% (8th)
Penalty Kill
- Carolina - 81.4% (13th)
- Detroit - 80.4% (18th)
Hurricanes Projected Lineup
Nikolaj Ehlers - Sebastian Aho - Jackson Blake
Andrei Svechnikov - Jordan Staal - Logan Stankoven
Taylor Hall - Mark Jankowski - Eric Robinson
Bradly Nadeau - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - William Carrier
K'Andre Miller - Sean Walker
Shayne Gostisbehere - Jalen Chatfield
Alexander Nikishin - Joel Nystrom
Brandon Bussi
Pyotr Kochetkov
Injuries and Scratches: Mike Reilly, Frederik Andersen, Jordan Martinook (LBI), Jaccob Slavin (UBI), Seth Jarvis (UBI)
Red Wings Projected Lineup
Emmitt Finnie - Dylan Larkin - Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat - Andrew Copp - John Leonard
Marco Kasper - Nate Danielson - Mason Appleton
Michael Rasmussen - J.T. Compher - James van Riemsdyk
Simon Edvinsson - Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot - Axel Sandin-Pellikka
Albert Johnasson - Jacob Bernard-Docker
John Gibson
Cam Talbot
Injuries and Scratches: Patrick Kane (UBI), Elmer Soderblom
Stay updated with the most interesting Carolina Hurricanes stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.