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Toronto Maple Leafs (18-14-4) at Carolina Hurricanes (12-20-6)
7 p.m. RBC Center
TV: FS-Carolinas, Leafs TV

It took a super-human effort from Cam Ward to get the Canes a point the last time they played the Leafs, so hopefully he won't need to stand on his head tonight for the Canes to win. Carolina has given up 30 or more shots in at least 20 games this season and I'm not sure if that's first in the NHL but I would not be surprised if it is. They are tied with the Minnesota Wild for the most shots allowed per 60 minutes at even strength and this is one thing that needs to change if the Hurricanes want to start winning more games. Hence why I will consider tonight's game a moral victory if the team gives up less than 25 shots...although that prediction could come back to bite me in the ass if the Leafs manage to win despite that.

Lines & more after the jump

Hurricanes

Tlusty - Staal - Dalpe
Ponikarovsky - Jokinen - Ruutu
Bowman - Sutter - LaRose
Stewart - Brent - Nodl

Gleason - McBain
Faulk - Harrison
Allen - Spacek

Ward

Leafs

MacArthur - Bozak - Kessel
Kulemin - Grabovski - Frattin
Kadri - Connolly - Lupul
Boyce - Steckel - Crabb

Phaneuf - Aulie
Gunnarsson - Schenn
Gardiner - Franson

Reimer

What happpened last time?

Canes had a good 10 minutes and had a powerplay in the first period but after that? All Toronto. Like I said, Cam Ward had to stand on his head to even earn the Canes a point, which he did. That and a timely powerplay goal late in the third from the former Leaf Alexei Ponikarovsky. Carolina's seen some changes to their forward corps with Tlusty and Dalpe now on the first line and Chad LaRose having third line duties with Drayson Bowman now. LaRose is coming off an awful game so I'm hoping to see a rebound from him. The Leafs lines have been changed a bit too as Keith Aulie is filling in for John-Michael Liles who is out with a concussion. He'll be playing on the top-pairing with Phaneuf, which is where he played for most of last year. Colby Armstrong is also out with a concussion and the former first round pick Nazem Kadri is playing in his spot. He's had a very successful call-up with two goals in three games and might stick around for a little longer if he can stay consistent. You'll also notice that Joffrey Lupul has been moved down to the third line with Clark MacArthur getting a promotion to the first unit. MacArthur isn't one of the Leafs better possession players but he's got four points in three games, which is good enough to earn that promotion. Our defense pairings may have their hands full if Mikhail Grabovski can build on that two-goal performance against Florida or if Tim Connolly can work well on the third line. Speaking of which, Bozak has been inferior to Connolly all year so I'm curious as to why he's playing with Kessel on the first line.

One last note, Tuomo Ruutu has a six game point streak while Eric Staal hasn't recorded a point in six games. I'd be willing to trade one streak for another if you know what I'm saying.

Enjoy the game.

Carolina Hurricanes (12-19-6) at Pittsburgh Penguins (20-11-4)
Consol Energy Center, 7 p.m.
TV: FS-Carolinas, ROOT Sports

If you're wondering why there was no scoring chance report for yesterday's game against the Devils and are an NHL Game Center subscriber, try to watch the replay of that game and tell me what happens. That should answer your question. I'll get the data from that game up as soon as I can, which probably won't be tonight because the Hurricanes are back in action against another future division foe, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both games against Pittsburgh this year have been very good and tonight's should be interesting with the Hurricanes top forward prospect Zac Dalpe being called up.

Where he is going to play is a good question because he was called up as a replacement for the injured Patrick Dwyer, who is a third liner but has played around 16-18 minutes on some nights so it's very possible to insert Dalpe onto the third line with Sutter and Tlusty. It's a huge upgrade compared to how little he was playing earlier in the season on the fourth line. Then again, it's possible that he might be placed on the fourth line while someone like Andreas Nodl is placed on the third line to take over Dwyer's spot because he has experience playing in Philadelphia's top 9. Then you remember what Kirk Muller said a couple weeks ago regarding Drayson Bowman being used on Staal's line.

“I think you’ve got to put them into a spot where they can excel,” Muller said of young players, like Bowman. “If you keep throwing them on the fourth line when they come up, they’re just going to be a guy out of their element.”

Dalpe is similar to Bowman in the sense that he is an offensively gifted player and could benefit a lot from playing on the first line during his call-up. The other wing spot on Staal's line is being occupied by Chad LaRose and he can easily play a third line role without any trouble so the idea of putting Dalpe on the top line isn't too far out of the question. He didn't have much success in his first stint this year (was on ice for five scoring chances in nine games) but he was playing injured and was stuck with Paul Maurice's fourth line minutes, which is a hard position for him to succeed. Could this be his chance to finally stick around on the big club? We'll find out soon.

Lines, scoring chances & more after the jump

Carolina Hurricanes (10-18-5) at Florida Panthers (17-9-6)
5 p.m., Bank Atlantic Center
TV: FS-Florida

One of the most important things to do during the season is win games in your division, the Hurricanes have only one victory in the Southeast this year. On top of that, they have only gained three points in games against Southeast teams and that's partially the reason why they are in as low in the standings as they are now. Today is a great day to turn things around, though as they take on the suprise team of the Southeast, the Florida Panthers. How long this success lasts is up for debate but it's looking highly likely that the Cats are on pace to make their first playoff apperance in over a decade. However, they have been on the receiving end of a lot of luck this year and that's played a role in their success.

Things like luck and regression are difficult to accept at first because it doesn't make the best story but the truth is that they both play a big role in hockey and can explain hot and cold streaks going on. Goalies are usually the biggest victim of good or bad luck and we've seen a recent example in Cam Ward who has played well below his abilities this year. We know that a sub-.900 save percentage is unsustainable for him and we've already seen him look like his usual self in the last two games, so there's some regression going on right now. Eric Staal was also a victim of bad luck for the first two months of the season and now he's got 8 points in his last 7 games.

Some of the beneficiaries of great puck luck have been Florida goaltender Jose Theodore (.933 EV sv%) and their entire first line of Stephen Weiss, Kris Versteeg and Tomas Fleischmann (all three have on-ice shooting percentages of 11%+). That isn't too say that these players are "bad" but they certainly aren't as good as they have been. Regression might be what comes back to hurt this Florida team because the strong goaltending has played a big role in their success and their first line has accounted for 48% of their goals. On top of that, Versteeg is the only player on their first line that appears to be driving possession well so when their shooting percentages regress, so does most of their scoring. For the Hurricanes, bad luck has played a role in their struggles but regression going to the mean isn't going to save them because there's a lot more going wrong with this team...but they are at least a win better than they are now. It doesn't sound like much at first, but it's true.

Let's see how the percentages play against Florida tonight.

Lines, analysis & more after the jump

Vancouver Canucks (18-10-2) at Carolina Hurricanes (9-18-5)
7:00 p.m., RBC Center
TV: FS-Carolinas, Sportsnet-Vancouver

It's unknown that all general managers look at all of these advanced stats that are gaining popularity on the Internet, but I suspect that Mike Gillis of the Vancouver Canucks might be one of them. He's made some very good trades over the past year where the Canucks acquired a low-PDO player for not much of a cost. The most recent one being the trade for David Booth in exchange for Marco Sturm and Mikael Samuelsson. Booth is a very talented player who hasn't been getting any luck the last two seasons with Florida (PDO is 934 this year), and Gillis was able to take advantage of Dale Tallon "selling low" on him and was able to snag a top-six forward for two expiring contracts.

I wouldn't be surprised to see more GM's do something similar and the Hurricanes are in a position where another team can take advantage of them via trade or vice versa. With the chances of a playoff birth being all but done, it's all about rebuilding now and there's a few under and over acheiving players who may be dealt this year. Will Jim Rutherford be able to get more or less value for the players he trades this year? We'll see. He was able to turn Sergei Samsonov's expiring contract into Bryan Allen, who has been the team's best defenseman last year so I have faith.

This is related because Carolina's game tonight is against Gillis' Canucks and it has the potential to be very ugly for us. I do have some faith because Carolina has played some of their better games this year against good teams. They do own victories over Chicago, Pittsburgh and Boston so I wouldn't get too pessimistic. The absence of our leading goal scorer and one of our best defenseman will make things very difficult, though.

Lines, analysis & more after the jump

Carolina Hurricanes (9-18-4) at Toronto Maple Leafs (15-11-3)
7:00 p.m., Air Canada Centre
TV: FS-Carolinas, SportsNet-Ontario

One phrase people love to throw around when things get tough is "at least it can't get any worse." Well, for the Carolina Hurricanes it can. We have one of the worst records in the NHL, injuries all over our defense, an ineffective powerplay and most of our losses have been by at least three goals. It was after the Winnipeg game that I said "Hey, at least things can't get worse." What happens after that? Jeff Skinner misses another with what is being described as an "undisclosed injury" and I'm hearing that it could be a concussion. So no, I don't want to hear that "things can't get worse" because when you have that mindset, they do get worse. Or maybe I'm just superstitious and want this Canada road trip to end? Probably that. Anyway, the good news is that this is the last game of the road trip and the Canes are taking on a team they beat a month ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Lines, analysis & more after the jump

Carolina Hurricanes (9-17-4) at Winnipeg Jets (12-11-4)
MTS Centre, 8:30 p.m.
TV: FS-Carolinas, TSN-Jets

Zone starts are something that I pay attention to every game but with Tomas Kaberle being traded to Montreal, I'm going to be keeping an extra eye on them now because I'm curious to see how Kirk Muller uses the defense. Next to Derek Joslin, Kaberle played the easiest ice-time by far and someone is going to have to take over that role but I'm not 100% sure who will. My first thought is Justin Faulk because he's been getting manhandled against tough competition the past few weeks and I think a guy with an offensive-skillset like him should get minutes like that. Another possibility is Jay Harrison when he gets back from injury or even Jamie McBain but the coaching staff appears to like him with Tim Gleason as the tough minutes pair. Jaroslav Spacek is apparently in the lineup tonight and he was playing Kaberle-like minutes in Montreal so it could be him too. The possibilities are endless and tonight we're facing a team with a coach that pays very close attention to zone starts in the Winnipeg Jets.

Lines, defense pairings, analysis & more after the jump

Carolina Hurricanes (8-17-4) at Edmonton Oilers (13-11-3)
Rexall Place 9:30 p.m. EST
TV: FS-Carolinas, TSN

There is a good chance that Carolina goes down a similar path to these Oilers that we're facing tonight. They have lost seven in a row, have already replaced their head coach, have some promising youth in the system and are on track for a top-five pick. The Oilers now have three top-level forward prospects on their team and appear to be finally making progress in their rebuild. There's been a lot of people who want the Canes to "Fail for Nail" and tank to get the number one pick because it's the only option but let's think about that for a minute. A team that gets the number one pick is not instantly going to become a contender the next year. It's going to take a couple more years like this before we're sitting pretty like the Capitals and Penguins are right now. Do I want this team to have success and rebuild through the draft? Absolutely, especially when we play in a smaller market but sitting through another couple of seasons like this is going to become grating on the fanbase. This is something that I'll look at more closely in the future but I've been wondering for awhile if the Canes will follow the same path as their opponent's tonight.

Lines, analysis & more after the jump

Pittsburgh Penguins (15-7-4) at Carolina Hurricanes (8-15-4)
RBC Center, 7 p.m.
TV: FS-Carolinas, ROOT Sports

Instead of going into the details on this game, I'm going to spread a word of advice that commonly gets spread around at concerts; Don't be a dick. No one wants to be that guy who is always causing problems in the pit just like no one wants to be that guy who decides to be a loud mouth or a sore loser at games. I am saying this because the Penguins have one of the strongest traveling fanbases in the league and there tends to be a lot in the crowd at RBC Center when their team is in town. I don't know how their fans behave at games but if they act like assholes then just walk on by and ignore them. In the end, this is just sports and we go to games to have fun so there's no need to get bent out of shape because someone is saying bad things about the team you root for. There's nothing wrong with poking fun at the opposition and some good natured ribbing but garbage like this, really needs to go away.

The Pens aren't our rivals so I'm going to assume there isn't much of that occurring, but the turf wars that go on between rival fans has been on my mind for awhile and I wanted to say something about it. Now let's talk about some hockey.

Lines, Analysis & more after the jump

New York Rangers (13-5-3) at Carolina Hurricanes (8-14-4)
RBC Center 7 p.m.
TV: FS-Carolina, MSG

If there's one thing that annoys me more than having to watch my team play poorly, it's the media coming up with bogus narratives to explain why "x team/player is struggling." Before Maurice was fired, the narrative circulating around the Hurricanes was that Eric Staal's horrible start to the year was because he feels bad about concussing his brother, Marc, last season when the Canes played the Rangers. I felt that incident was way overblown by Rangers fans and has nothing to do with Staal's horrible point total this season.

Staal's start to the year was brutal in every category but lately, he has picked it up even if his point total does not indicate that. He is the Hurricanes best forward in terms of possession and has recently broke .500 in terms of scoring chances so I believe that he will turn the corner and have a scoring outburst very soon. What's holding him back now is a horrible on-ice shooting percentage of 6.28% and his low +/- is due to Ward/Boucher stopping only 87.4% of the opposing team's shots when he's on the ice. I truly believe that Staal will be fine from here on out so let's put this silly narrative to rest and focus on hockey starting with tonight's rematch against the Rangers. 

Lines, analysis & more after the jump

Florida Panthers (12-7-4) at Carolina Hurricanes (8-13-4)
7:00 p.m
TV: FS-Carolinas, FS-Florida

Only one day into his new job and Kirk Muller will already be coaching his first game as the new bench boss of the Carolina Hurricanes. He had his first practice with the team this morning and there seemed to be good vibes all around. One of the highlights from the practice was the conversation he had with Eric Staal saying that he "doesn't have to be Super Man" and wants him to do more leading by example. I can't say that I disagree with him on both points but Staal has been on an upward trend since November so I'm hoping that continues, but it's clear that his play his been a disappointment so far this year. The general consensus among the players is that they let Paul Maurice down and their poor performance resulted in him losing his job. I can't disagree with that either but it was clear that a coaching change for this team was inevitable. The Canes are rebuilding and Maurice simply did not fit into the organization's future plans and it was time for him to go. Best of luck to him in his future endeavors.

The new era for Hurricanes hockey begins tonight with their game against the Florida Panthers and I, for one, can not be more excited about it. The rebuild process is now in full effect and it will probably take a long time but the results should be worth it.

Lines, defense pairings, analysis & more after the jump