RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes are not expected to make any changes to their lineup as they try to tie the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens.
After holding their opponents to two goals or fewer in the first eight games of the postseason, the Canes were railroaded with six from the Habs in Game 1. Pointing to afforded breakaways and odd-man rushes as the reasons for the defeat, they’ll try to tighten up defensively this time around.
On the offensive side of things, Seth Jarvis‘ second goal of the postseason got things started on the right foot, and Eric Robinson found twine later on for his first of the playoffs, but there’s still a desire for more attacking results.
In net, Frederik Andersen, who was hardly to blame for the Game 1 lapses, is set to make his 10th start of the postseason. Before the surprising series-opening result, his .950 save percentage and 1.12 goals against average led the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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Tonight’s Projected Lineup…
Forwards
Svechnikov – Aho – Jarvis
Hall – Stankoven – Blake
Ehlers – Staal – Martinook
Carrier – Jankowski – Robinson
Defense
Slavin – Chatfield
Miller – Walker
Gostisbehere – Nikishin
Starting Goaltender
Andersen
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Injuries
N/A
Scratches
Nicolas Deslauriers
Pyotr Kochetkov
Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Mike Reilly
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PP1: Aho, Ehlers (Staal), Jarvis, and Svechnikov with Gostisbehere
PP2: Blake, Hall, Jankowski, and Stankoven with Miller
Jordan Staal has been taking the faceoffs to start most power plays. If he wins it, he’ll stay on the ice. When the puck comes out of the zone, he jumps off, and Nikolaj Ehlers jumps on with the first unit. If he wins it for the second unit, Mark Jankowski jumps on when Staal goes off.
