The WhalerCanes make their home appearance for the first time against the best team in the league
Cue up “Brass Bonanza,” dig out your green and blue, and grab the tissues as there is a LOT going on tonight in Raleigh.
The Colorado Avalanche come to town to take on the Carolina Hurricanes, but they do so dressed as their previous iteration: The Quebec Nordiques. It’s a full-on uniform rematch of the October 23rd game in Denver as the Canes agreed to wear their Whalers gear both on the road for that game and tonight to compliment the full look. Tonight is the third out of seven times the AvaDiques…NordAlanche…will wear the uniform, but the only time they’ll do so on the road. Stick tap to the road crews for both teams that had to do the work to carry a complete extra set of uniforms including sticks, gloves, pants, helmets, gear, and more on the road that will provide hockey fans an absolutely beautiful view on the ice.
A retro matchup not enough for you? How about the fact that the team coming into Raleigh tonight is the runaway leader in the NHL right now? Colorado enters tonight a full ten points ahead of second place for the league lead. 67 points and they haven’t even hit the halfway mark. They have only lost twice in regulation, seven additional times after regulation and one of those times was that October 23rd game in an epic matchup that ended in the shootout. Nathan MacKinnon is melting the ice with 34 goals, 36 assists, for a ridiculous 70 points before the halfway point of the season. Three Avs players have more points than the top point scorer for the Canes Sebastian Aho with 40. They are just simply a machine right now, and oh yeah, come in winning nine straight, winning by a combined 41-18.
The Avs did receive one bit of news that could cause them some issues for at least a few days: The team leader in GAA and save percentage Mackenzie Blackwood has been placed on the IR, seemingly out of nowhere. No word yet on what the deal is with the injury, but it means he will at least be out for tonight’s game. Instead the Canes will “just” have to deal with Scott Wedgewood between the pipes. Wedgewood has been the regular starter for Colorado this season, going 17-1 with a 2.13 GAA and .919 save percentage. Wedgewood was left off the Team Canada roster, so he could be a little extra motivated tonight.
Is that not enough for you? Oh yeah, let’s add some spice in the returns of three former treasured Hurricanes to Raleigh for the first time. Martin Necas and Jack Drury return since their trade to Colorado, and Brent Burns comes in after his free agent signing with them in the offseason. Necas has thrived in Colorado, there’s no other way to put it as their style fits his play better than it did with the Canes. He signed an eight year extension with the Avs, and has rewarded them by being their second leading goal scorer (19) and points scorer (51). Drury has fit in just fine with Colorado and frankly the Canes could use him at C right now as they continue to search for the right combos with their wingers. Burns has five goals and 15 assists while carrying a +20 rating. Thanks to Cale Makar holding down the first pairing, Burns has settled in on the second pairing and the subject of a lot of frequent ire by Canes fans looks to be in a great position for one more Stanley Cup run. Expect welcome backs for all these players, which should be emotional.
On the Canes side—there was no morning skate on Saturday, but they did practice on Friday. The practice was notable for the return of Shayne Gostisbehere to the ice in a full contact jersey, who stated that the situation was a nagging injury that flared up. There’s a chance he’ll be back out tonight which would be outstanding news for a team that needs his point per game production to keep up with this hot Avs squad. Based on how the players skated expect the Canes to go right back to the Bus Brandon Bussi in net as he looks to rebound from his first poor outing of the year. Don’t expect Seth Jarvis as he was still in a yellow no-contact jersey, and Jaccob Slavin also still did not appear although if he’s going to be heading to Italy next month, one would expect to see him soon.
Ahh yes, the Olympics. The one other bit of news that will likely be celebrated tonight is the announcement that Sebastian Aho was formally selected for the Finnish team and that Jaccob Slavin was selected to the American squad. Right now no other Canes have been formally named, but it is worth noting that last year Denmark announced Frederik Andersen as part of their first six. As there really aren’t any other prominent Dane goaltenders right now even with his recent dip, he’s still got a good chance of going over—which honestly may help him.
As mentioned—there is A LOT going on tonight. All of this and then the Canes have to immediately flush it no matter what as they’ll be up in Newark this time tomorrow to face the Devils. Such is life in the NHL.
Whew. If you aren’t going to be in Raleigh tonight, here’s how you can catch the action:
Time: 7 PM
TV: FanDuel Sports Network. Mike Maniscalco will handle play-by-play alongside Tripp Tracy doing color. Hanna Yates and Shane Willis will provide off-ice reports as well as host pregame starting at 6:30 and postgame that will run for about 30 minutes after the conclusion.
Streaming: FanDuel Sports Network App for fans in the Carolinas. Outside of the area, the ESPN app has you covered for tonight as the game will not be on the NHL Network.
Radio: The pregame on 99.9 The Fan starts at 4:30. At 5PM the Hurricanes Radio Network (consisting of 99.9, 730 The Game in Charlotte, ESPN New Bern 107.5/1490, and ESPN Greenville 107.5/1570) picks up the FDSN feed. You can also stream the call on the Hurricanes app.
Odds: Hurricanes +116 Moneyline, Puckline Hurricanes +1.5 at -215/Avalanche -140 Moneyline, Puckline -1.5 at +172, O/U 6.5 (+100 Over/-122 Under)
Category: General Sports
