Carolina Hurricanes (14-16-5) at Chicago Blackhawks (20-12-4) 7PM Eastern/6PM Central WGN/Fox Sports Carolina
THE BUZZ
This is a nice way to break back in for the Blackhawks after a few days off for the Holidays. The Canes are a team a rested Chicago club should be able to beat on home ice. The hawks and Canes have allegedly had quite a few trade discussions the last several months. One player to watch is Canes center Viktor Rask, who I heard several weeks back the Hawks were inquiring about. A 2011 draftee, Rask was taken one pick ahead of former Hawk Brandon Saad. The Hawks were also linked to Canes forward Jeff Skinner last summer.
THE NUMBERS
GOALS PER GAME
Carolina 20th 2.37 Chicago 14th 2.64
GOALS AGAINST PER GAME
Carolina 25th 2.89 Chicago 8th 2.42
POWER PLAY
Carolina 20th 17.7% Chicago 4th 21.6%
PENALTY KILL
Carolina 27th 77.1% Chicago 12th 82%
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Carolina
Versteeg E. Staal Lindholm Nordstrom J. Staal Nestrasil Skinner Rask DiGiuseppe Malone McClement Terry
Liles Faulk Slavin Hainsey Hanifin Pesce
Lack
Chicago
Panarin Anisimov Kane Teravainen Toews Hossa Bickell Rasmussen Shaw Desjardins Danault Garbutt
Keith van Riemsdyk Hjalmarsson Seabrook Scuderi Rozsival
Crawford
No official word on Marian Hossa's status tonight. I have him in. If not, look for lines more like those the Hawks rolled in Dallas last week.
Also, and this is preliminary, there might be a trade being discussed between the Hawks and the Lightning.
More as I have it and a recap tomorrow.