News Hurricanes Team Notes

[Carolina Hurricanes]

Game Preview and Thread: Carolina Hurricanes at Tampa Bay Lightning

The Carolina Hurricanes (22-9-3) are back in action tonight to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (18-13-3) at 7 PM in the second of back-to-back road games in Florida.

Carolina is coming off a tough performance in the third period last night against the Panthers, where they allowed three unanswered goals in the final 10 minutes before eventually losing in the shootout.

Despite the bad loss, the Canes still hold the best record in the Eastern Conference and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. One of the bright spots last night was Sebastian Aho, who netted two goals for his second straight multi-goal performance.

But the Hurricanes won’t be without one of their top liners tonight in Seth Jarvis, who exited last night’s game in overtime with an injury after being tripped into the net. He is expected to be out for a decent amount of time as a result. So far this season, Jarvis leads the Canes with 19 goals in 34 games.

Carolina doesn’t get any time off though as they prepare to face another Atlantic Division contender in the Lightning tonight.

Tampa Bay has gone cold as of late, losing three straight and posting a 3-6-1 record in their last 10 games. Similar to the Canes early in the season, injuries have plagued the Lighting this year. Tonight will be no different, as they will be without a few of their top pieces.

Leading scorer Brandon Hagel, who has 18 goals in 32 games, will be out with an upper-body injury. Tampa Bay also won’t have star veteran defenseman Victor Hedman, who was placed on IR after having surgery on his elbow in mid-December. Hedman has put up 12 points in 18 games this season. Nikita Kucherov, who is ninth in the NHL with 42 points, will be a game-time decision with an illness.

Starting goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who returned from injury in Tampa Bay’s loss to the Kings on Thursday after missing seven games with an injury, has posted a 2.30 GAA and .917 save percentage in 20 games this season.

The Canes are looking to bounce back tonight and extend their point streak to seven games with a win, which should be in reach facing an injury-riddled Lightning team.

Here’s how to catch tonight’s game:

Time: 7 PM

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

Streaming: FanDuel Sports Network App/ESPN

Radio: 99.9 The Fan

Odds: Hurricanes +102 Moneyline, Hurricanes +1.5 at -260

Source: https://www.canescountry.com/caroli...ad-carolina-hurricanes-at-tampa-bay-lightning

 

[Carolina Hurricanes]

Game Preview and Thread: Panthers at Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes return home on Tuesday night from a three-game road trip that saw them visit three other Sun Belt franchises.

The Canes went 1-1-1 in three games against the Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, maintaining their edge atop the Metropolitan Division standings despite some bad injury news and concerning blown leads in the latter two games.

Carolina gave up three-goal leads against both Tampa Bay and Florida, letting excellent first-period efforts go to waste without being able to come up with some key plays down the stretch in both games.

In the process of coughing up a 3-0 lead to the Panthers in Sunrise, the Hurricanes lost stars Jaccob Slavin and Seth Jarvis to injuries. Playing without Slavin is nothing new to this year’s iteration of the club, as he’s made just five appearances to this point, but it’s disheartening nonetheless.

Jarvis, on the other hand, is having a season ripped straight out of the Final Destination series. There was the concern over a long-term injury when he took a hard shot to the foot/lower leg, the near-miss when he took a high stick directly to the eye, and now he’s crashed full speed into a goalpost after a blatant uncalled trip, suffering what seems to be a rib injury.

It’s a testament to the star winger that despite the prior two ailments, he’s scoring at the best pace of his career and gutting it out to help both Carolina and his chances at making Team Canada at the Winter Olympics. I’m not going to wade too far into the politics of Hockey Canada’s roster decisions, but they’d be fools not to take him to Milan— especially given some of the other names reportedly under consideration.

As for Tuesday night, it will be interesting to see how, if at all, the Canes respond to the plays from Friday night that took out two of their very best.

The Panthers continue to be without their two best forwards in Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov, but they’re still hanging around the playoff race anyway. Brad Marchand and Sam Reinhart lead the team with 40 and 35 points, respectively.

Sergei Bobrovsky’s numbers aren’t stellar, but the seemingly ageless Russian netminder is winning Florida more games than he’s losing them.

With Jarvis out, this figures to be another crucial stretch for Jackson Blake, slated to get another chance on the top line with Nikolaj Ehlers and Sebastian Aho. The 22-year-old has 22 points in 35 games, including four in his past four after a four-game stretch in which he was blanked.

This is the last game before the holiday freeze, and after the way the last two losses went down, you can bet the Canes will be extra motivated to set a better mood heading into the break.

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Here’s how to check out the action:

Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Lenovo Center – Raleigh, NC
TV: FanDuel Sports Network with Mike Maniscalco, play-by-play; Tripp Tracy, color analyst; Shane Willis, analyst; Hannah Yates, rinkside.
Radio: 99.9 The Fan FM
Line: ML: CAR -154; PL: CAR -1.5 +158

Source: https://www.canescountry.com/genera...-florida-panthers-nhl-game-preview-discussion

 

[Carolina Hurricanes]

Hurricanes blow another lead to Panthers, fall 5-2

Looking to go into the holiday break on a positive note after two gut-wrenching losses in Florida last weekend, the Carolina Hurricanes laid another egg in Raleigh on Tuesday, falling 5-2 to the Florida Panthers after one of the more dismal periods of hockey the team has played under Rod Brind’Amour.

Just as they did in Sunrise on Friday, the Hurricanes got the scoring started when Eric Robinson buried a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky off a patient feed from Sebastian Aho early in the first period.

Carolina got to its defensive game for the rest of the first period, ensuring that Frederik Andersen only faced three shots in his first 20 minutes of action since December 4.

Defense led to offense in the second period when right after a successful penalty kill, captain Jordan Staal fired off a perfect stretch pass to send Andrei Svechnikov in on a breakaway right out of the box. Svechnikov sold the high shot and slid the puck past Bobrovsky low to give Carolina a 2-0 lead that would stand up through 40.

It all unraveled from there, both for the team’s defensive structure and for Andersen between the pipes, as the Panthers put together the sort of run that used to win Roy Williams’ UNC teams national championships.

Niko Mikkola got it started from distance to cut the deficit to 2-1. Less than three minutes later, Luke Kunin hammered home a feed from Noah Gregor to tie things up with his second tally of the season.

Just 53 seconds after that, Florida took its first lead of the game on a similar-looking play to the previous goal when Sam Reinhart found Anton Lundell in the slot. Lundell, admirably filling the Aleksander Barkov role in the latter’s absence, sold Andersen on glove-high and then went stick-high after the Danish goalie bit hard.

Sam Bennett added an insurance goal to make it 4-2, though the Hurricanes had given up by that point. Seth Jones added another on a power play with just under five minutes remaining to make it 5-2.

Now with three straight losses after multi-goal leads to the Florida teams, the two teams in the East you really worry about in a playoff series, the holiday break has to become a time for introspection for Brind’Amour and the team.

The Canes will take the ice in Raleigh on December 27 against a surging Detroit Red Wings team that just earned a dramatic win on its home ice on Tuesday.

Source: https://www.canescountry.com/2010-1...nes-blow-lead-florida-panthers-game-recap-nhl

 

[Carolina Hurricanes]

Happy Christmas and Merry Holidays!

For all of you who celebrate, I want to wish you a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season!

A big thank you to my fellow writers here on the site, Al, Kyle, Evan, and Brian. I really appreciate your hard work.

And of course a heartfelt thank you to all you Canes Country readers, lurkers, and commentors out there from around the world who help make this site successful. It is really gratifying to see so many fans gather here to exchange ideas. Some new fans some old, some former players, some who have never played. For the most part everyone treats everyone with courtesy and respect even if we disagree and I thank you all for that.

We will be taking a couple of days off here but will return for the preview before the Detroit game coming up.

Well wishes!

Source: https://www.canescountry.com/general/52566/happy-christmas-and-merry-holidays

 

[Carolina Hurricanes]

Red Wings @ Hurricanes – Preview and Game Thread

After taking a holiday break, the Carolina Hurricanes (22-11-3) are back in action as they take on the Detroit Red Wings (22-13-3) tonight at the Lenovo Center. Game time is 7 P.M. and the game will be broadcast by the FanDuel Sports Network with a special simultaneous local broadcast by WRAL.

The Canes will be hoping to put their recent failures in the rear view mirror as they have lost three games in a row, all by giving up leads in the third period. They are 6-3-1 in their last 10.

The Hurricanes hold first place in the Metropolitan Division and hold a narrow, winning percentage advantage in the Eastern Conference. The Wings will be looking to change that tonight.

The Red Wings are coming in red hot and currently sit in first place in the Atlantic Division. They have won three games in a row which include two wins over the Capitals and one over Dallas. They are 8-2-0 in their last 10.

At Carolina’s morning skate, Jaccob Slavin, K’Andre Miller, and Seth Jarvis did not take the ice.

Brandon Bussi was back in the starter’s net for the home team.

Cory Lavalette posted the line rushes as follows:

Line rushes this morning:

Svechnikov-Aho-Stankoven
Ehlers-Kotkaniemi-Blake
Carrier-Staal-Martinook
Hall-Jankowski-Robinson
Nadeau

Nikishin-Walker
Gostisbehere-Chatfield
Reilly-Nystrom

Bussi
Kochetkov

— Cory Lavalette (@CoryLavalette) December 27, 2025

Perhaps the experiment with Stankoven playing center is finally over?

Alexander Nikishin is in the first pairing, in this economy?

Wings goalie, John Gibson, has won eight games in a row and has allowed just 17 goals during that span. I would expect to see him tonight.

Look for Detroit’s lines to be as follows:

Emmitt Finnie — Dylan Larkin — Lucas Raymond

Alex DeBrincat — Andrew Copp — John Leonard

Marco Kasper — Nate Danielson — Mason Appleton

Michael Rasmussen — JT Compher — James van Riemsdyk

Their pairings:

Simon Edvinsson — Moritz Seider

Ben Chiarot — Axel Sandin-Pellikka

Albert Johansson– Jacob Bernard-Docker

This is from Kevin Allen, former USA Today writer and now Wings beat reporter.

Winner will be No. 1 in the Eastern Conference:
Red Wings at Hurricanes: Notes, Lines, Goalies, How to Watch https://t.co/3To0dK1gSw

— Kevin Allen (@ByKevinAllen) December 27, 2025

It should be a good one tonight. See everyone in the game thread later.

Source: https://www.canescountry.com/caroli.../red-wings-hurricanes-preview-and-game-thread

 

[Carolina Hurricanes]

Hurricanes 5, Red Wings 2

The Carolina Hurricanes put an end to their losing streak with a dominating, 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night at the Lenovo Center.

The win kept the team in sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division.

Goaltender, Brandon Bussi earned the win and stopped 18 of the 20 shots he faced.

Bussi is now an amazing 12-1-1 in his first career 14 NHL games.

Andrei Svechnikov and Shayne Gostisbehere each had a goal and two assists to lead the team.

The Wings jumped out to a 1-0 lead midway through the first period even though the Canes were dominating. The home team had several close chances but couldn’t light the lamp yet.

In the second period, the Canes were able to get pucks by John Gibson.

First, Jackson Blake tipped in a Gostisbehere shot to tie the score, just 3:22 into the second.

A minute and change later, Eric Robinson knocked in a loose puck to give the home team the lead. It was Robinson’s 9th goal of the season.

Later in the period, Gostisbehere took a nice pass from Jalen Chatfield and roofed in a perfect shot in the top corner of the net to make it, 3-1.

The Wings would make it 3-2 with a powerplay tally in the third but Svechnikov stole the puck and put his team back up by two about 10 minutes later.

He would feed teammate Jordan Martinook for an empty net goal to close things out. It was Martinook’s 100th career goal.

In all, the Hurricanes outshot the Wings 38-20 for the game.

Alexander Nikishin led all skaters with 24:59 of ice time.

William Carrier had a team high five hits.

The Canes will next take on the Rangers at home on Monday night.

Game Summary – https://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20252026/GS020593.HTM

Event Summary – https://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20252026/ES020593.HTM

Interviews – https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/um8w...nxdzs3irlltm6zx0p499&subfolder_nav_tracking=1

Source: https://www.canescountry.com/2010-11-carolina-hurricanes-game-recaps/52575/hurricanes-5-red-wings-2

 

[Carolina Hurricanes]

Game Preview: Hurricanes vs. Rangers

After a head-scratching three-game stretch, the Carolina Hurricanes got back to their game against Detroit Saturday night.

Tonight, the Canes seek to keep it going versus the New York Rangers.

The Rangers are in the midst of a six-game road trip that concludes with the Winter Classic. With four road games against divisional opponents and an outdoor spectacle in South Florida on Friday, how much does that factor into the team’s mindset?

New York is just barely above .500 this month and has not gained any ground on Metropolitan opponents, sitting in the seventh spot in the division since December 4.

Despite the struggle in breaking through in the standings, New York is in a tough battle for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers need a bounce-back victory after a shutout loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday and a trip to Washington on New Years’ Eve.

Even though this six-game road trip is grueling, New York has played well on the road this season. And they needed to be road warriors based on their abysmal play at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers did not earn a home victory until November 10.

New York is 14-7-1 on the road with a 68-50 goal differential. To put that goal margin in perspective, the Rangers have an overall -3 goal differential this season and rank second-to-last in goal scored per game this season.

And one of those road victories is against the Hurricanes. On the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, the usual suspects shone for the Rangers. Artemi Panarin scored the go-ahead goal, and Igor Shesterkin turned away 36 of 38 shots enroute to a 4-2 win.

An obvious focus tonight is the Breadman. Panarin leads the Rangers in goals (14), assists (24), points (38), and shots (121), and has 30 points in 33 career regular season games against Carolina.

Another player to always watch is Mika Zibanejad. He leads the Rangers in power play goals (7), ranks second in goals (12) and points (29), and has 17 points in his last 17 games.

Zibanejad has earned his keep on the power play this season, ranking 10th in the NHL in power play goals. However, the Rangers have just one road power play goal in December, and have scored just eight away from New York City.

Based on the latest reports, Adam Fox and Sam Carrick are game-time decisions. Carrick will likely draw back due to his full participation in the morning skate, and Fox has not been fully ruled by head coach Mike Sullivan.

J.T. Miller remains on Injured Reserve with an upper-body injury, and Adam Edstrom is on Long-Term Injured Reserve with a lower-body injury.

Shesterkin is between the pipes for New York and is making his 11th start of the month. Shesterkin has played 31 games this season, and is 16-12-3 with a 2.51 goal against average and .910 save percentage.

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Rangers projected lineup

Artemi Panarin — Mika Zibanejad — Alexis Lafreniere

Will Cuylle — Vincent Trocheck — Gabe Perreault

Conor Sheary — Noah Laba — Taylor Raddysh

Brennan Othmann — Jonny Brodzinski — Matt Rempe

Vladislav Gavrikov — Braden Schneider

Carson Soucy — Will Borgen

Matthew Robertson — Scott Morrow

Igor Shesterkin

Jonathan Quick

Scratched: Urho Vaakanainen, Conor Sheary

Injured: Adam Fox (upper body), Adam Edstrom (lower body), J.T. Miller (upper body), Sam Carrick (illness)

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The Hurricanes got a lead and kept it Saturday night, a welcome departure from their previous three games. Even better, Carolina did it against the team tied with them for the lead in the Eastern Conference.

The task for the Canes is to build off that performance and finish the three-game homestand strong.

There was no morning skate for Carolina, but the practice on Sunday provided a couple of updates for this game.

Expect Pyotr Kochetkov to be in the net tonight. He had the starter’s role in practice, and he always plays well when another Russian is in the opposing crease. Kochetkov’s first game of the season was a shutout victory over the Rangers.

K’Andre Miller was injured on December 23 and did not play against the Red Wings. He was a full participant in practice and may draw back into the lineup tonight.

The Canes remain without Jaccob Slavin and Seth Jarvis. Jarvis scored a goal in each of the previous matchups this season against New York.

Eric Robinson and Andrei Svechnikov are both on three-game goal streaks. For Robinson, he is on pace for another career year. For Svechnikov, he is on a five-game points streak and is playing particularly well, which is especially important in Jarvis’s absence.

Shayne Gostisbehere’s three-point night against Detroit vaulted him back into the top 10 of points scored by a defenseman. His 25 assists are seventh-best among all defensemen.

Besides Miller, no other lineup changes are expected.

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Hurricanes projected lineup

Andrei Svechnikov — Sebastian Aho — Logan Stankoven

Nikolaj Ehlers — Jesperi Kotkaniemi — Jackson Blake

William Carrier — Jordan Staal — Jordan Martinook

Taylor Hall — Mark Jankowski — Eric Robinson

Alexander Nikishin — Sean Walker

Shayne Gostisbehere — Jalen Chatfield

Mike Reilly — Joel Nystrom

Pyotr Kochetkov

Brandon Bussi

Scratched: Bradly Nadeau, Frederik Andersen

Injured: Seth Jarvis (upper body), Jaccob Slavin (upper body), K’Andre Miller (foot)

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Here’s how to check out the action:

Time: 7:00 PM ET

Location: Lenovo Center – Raleigh, NC

TV: FanDuel Sports Network with Mike Maniscalco, play-by-play; Tripp Tracy, color analyst; Shane Willis, analyst; Hannah Yates, rinkside.

Radio: 99.9 The Fan FM

Line: ML: CAR -185; PL: CAR -1.5 +145

Source: https://www.canescountry.com/caroli...anes-vs-new-york-rangers-nhl-december-29-2025