The Carolina Hurricanes closed out October with a decisive win over the New York Islanders, and look to keep it rolling against the Boston Bruins.
After a tough 10-day stretch in which Boston lost six games, the Bruins have won three of the last four, including three straight at home.
The top story out of Boston is Morgan Geekie. Yes, Carolina’s 2017 third-round pick, who scored his first three NHL goals on his first three shots back in March 2020.
This season, Geekie is tied for the NHL lead with nine goals. The Manitoba native has scored a goal in six straight games.
Geekie will now be paired with Marat Khusnutdinov, who is replacing the injured Elias Lindholm, another former Hurricane. This will be a major jump for the 23-year-old Russian, and he will get a huge opportunity today to prove he belongs in the top six.
Khusnutdinov scored his first goal of the season on Thursday, an overtime winner over Buffalo. The young Russian is poised to make an impact with Geekie and superstar David Pastrnak on the Boston top line.
Pastrnak leads the Bruins in scoring and is tied for fourth overall in the NHL. This surge to the top of the league charts is due to his hot play in recent games. Pasta has five multi-point performances in his last seven games.
For most of the season, Boston has alternated between Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo in net. Swayman went back-to-back during games two and three of the Bruins’ six-game skid, and Korpisalo has started and won the last two games.
After allowing two goals in the first versus the Islanders, Korpisalo did not allow another goal until the second period of the next game against the Sabres.
A starter has not been named, but let’s see if head coach Marco Sturm goes with the hot hand or returns to Swayman.
Besides, Lindholm, defenseman Jordan Harris is out of the lineup for the Bruins. The 25-year-old had surgery on Monday to repair a right ankle fracture sustained during Brad Marchand’s return to Boston on October 21.
The Bruins’ team defense has been a major weakness this season, ranking 26th in the NHL with 3.60 goals allowed per game. However, after the 7-5 loss to Anaheim on October 23, Boston has allowed just over two goals a game in the last four contests.
Morgan Geekie — Marat Khusnutdinov — David Pastrnak
Casey Mittelstadt — Pavel Zacha — Viktor Arvidsson
Tanner Jeannot — Fraser Minten — Michael Eyssimont
Johnny Beecher — Sean Kuraly — Mark Kastelic
Nikita Zadorov — Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm — Andrew Peeke
Jonathan Aspirot — Henri Jokiharju
Joonas Korpisalo
Jeremy Swayman
Scratched: Jeffrey Viel, Mason Lohrei
Injured: Elias Lindholm (lower body), Jordan Harris (surgery)
Carolina is back on track after a two-game skid. On Thursday night, the Canes scored six goals, matching their season high scored on opening night versus New Jersey.
The Hurricanes did so, once again, with a depleted lineup.
With the injury bug having its way in the Canes’ locker room, all eyes are on Seth Jarvis. Carolina’s goal leader took a puck to the inner ankle during a shot block attempt against New York and hobbled to the locker room.
After the game, head coach Rod Brind’Amour said, “it doesn’t look great” for Jarvis.
Fortunately, Jarvis skated on Friday and will travel with the team today.
In more good news, Canes beat writer Walt Ruff reported that William Carrier and K’Andre Miller skated yesterday, although Miller will not make the road trip.
In other roster news, Pyotr Kochetkov was assigned to the Chicago Wolves for a conditioning stint, which can last up to two weeks.
Once again, expect Mike Reilly and two rookies, Joel Nystrom and Charles-Alexis Legault, to suit up on the back end.
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With Brandon Bussi earning the win on Thursday, expect Frederik Andersen to get the start in the Garden.
Thursday’s win over the Islanders was not pretty, but the Canes started on time and won the game in the first period. With injuries and an impotent power play, Carolina must be ready from the opening whistle.
The best news for Canes fans this week is the arrival of Andrei Svechnikov. Svech is on a two-game goal streak, his first two tallies of the season.
It just so happens that the first three penalties of the season for Svechnikov have occurred in the last two games.
His game on Thursday against New York was his best of the season. He made the play happen for Jordan Martinook’s first period goal, he had a big and clean hit on Emil Heineman in the second, and had the perfect power forward goal off the wing in the third.
While Carrier remains out, let’s hope HCRBA keeps Svechnikov with Martinook and Jordan Staal. Those two vets seem to take the pressure off Svechnikov, allowing him to return to the basics of his game.
Jackson Blake had another great game. This was underscored by him taking a big hit in the second and opening the third with a strong stick that put one in the back of the net.
If the Canes can get all four forward lines clicking at the same time, this will be a really dangerous team.
Hurricanes projected lineup
Nikolaj Ehlers — Sebastian Aho — Seth Jarvis
Taylor Hall — Logan Stankoven — Jackson Blake
Jordan Martinook — Jordan Staal — Andrei Svechnikov
Mark Jankowski — Jesperi Kotkaniemi — Bradly Nadeau
Alexander Nikishin — Sean Walker
Jalen Chatfield — Joel Nystrom
Mike Reilly — Charles-Alexis Legault
Frederik Andersen
Brandon Bussi
Scratched: Domenick Fensore, Pyotr Kochetkov
Injured: William Carrier (lower body), Eric Robinson (upper body), Jaccob Slavin (lower body), K’Andre Miller (lower body), Shayne Gostisbehere (midsection)
Here’s how to check out the action:
- Time: 1:00 PM ET
- Location: TD Garden, Boston, MA
- 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 +136
