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Yep, you read that right!
Ahead of the qualifying round, the Carolina Hurricanes will face the Washington Capitals in an exhibition game tonight.
We play hockey today!
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) July 29, 2020
📠Toronto
🕓 4:00 PM
📺 @CanesOnFSCR
📻 @999TheFan#LetsGoCanes
Preview » https://t.co/pUYvpQ9kHy pic.twitter.com/hIkNET9Knr
As expected, Dougie Hamilton will be out but another story to watch for this week will be Martin Necas’ status. According to NHL.com’s Michael Smith, Necas is unlikely to play tonight after leaving practice early on Saturday. Hopefully, it’s just the Hurricanes taking precautions and ideally he’ll be ready to go by the first game of the qualifying round on Saturday. It’ll also mean that whatever lines we see tonight are likely to be different going into the games against New York, after needing to find a spot for Necas into the lineup.
Lastly, it’ll be interesting to see if Petr Mrazek and James Reimer split the game this afternoon. This will be a chance for the team to get their first (and only) real look at each player before the start of the series, so ideally Rod Brind'Amour gets to see as many players as possible before making decisions.
Puck drop is at 4 p.m.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Current Hurricanes lineup vs. last year’s playoff lineup: Defense/Goalies Reviewing last week's polls (July 27): Hurricanes Edition SHORT READ: Jack Drury reportedly heading to Sweden for 2020-21 season SHORT READ: Dougie Hamilton reportedly injured, could miss weeks Current Hurricanes lineup vs. last year’s playoff lineup: Forwards Which of Carolina’s defensemen will be scratched in the qualifying round? Reviewing this week's polls (July 18): Hurricanes Edition This time around, Hurricanes face pressure to perform in the playoffs Will Morgan Geekie have a spot in Carolina’s playoff lineup? Will the Hurricanes use Ryan Suzuki in the playoffs? Reviewing last week's polls (July 6): Hurricanes Edition Hurricanes will likely rely heavily on Hamilton and Slavin against Rangers SHORT READ: Rick Dudley leaving the Hurricanes