Hurricanes at Red Wings
The Carolina Hurricanes appeared on the verge of sliding out of the playoff chase in the wake of four consecutive losses but they have managed to right themselves with a pair of impressive road wins. Coming off back-to-back victories at the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh, Carolina continues its six-game road trip at the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.
With a pair of last-place teams upcoming in the Red Wings and New Jersey, the Hurricanes have a chance to finish the road trip with a winning record and maintain their hold on the second wild card. Carolina, which has been without its top two goaltenders for the past six games, could have both of them back in the lineup for last two stops of its trek. While the Hurricanes are coming off an offensive eruption in Sunday's 6-2 demolition of the Penguins, they will have to be wary of the league-worst Red Wings, who have posted consecutive wins for the first time since Jan. 7-10. "Unfortunately we've had a lot of downs this season," Dylan Larkin said after Sunday's shootout win over Tampa Bay. "We'll finish on a positive note if we keep playing the way we're playing."
TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: FS Carolinas, FS Detroit
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (37-25-5): Forward Morgan Geekie was the reigning American League Hockey player of the week when he was summoned from the minors and he hardly looked out of place in his NHL debut, scoring twice and adding an assist at Pittsburgh. "He's got some grit to him. He knows how to play, and he's not afraid," coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It was an excellent contribution." Petr Mrazek, who suffered a concussion at Toronto on Feb. 22, is expected back in net Tuesday while backup James Reimer also will be on the road trip.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (17-48-5): Detroit had scored more than three regulation goals only once in 25 games before breaking out against Tampa Bay as the line of Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi and Anthony Mantha combined for three goals and 11 points. Bertuzzi's four-point night enabled him to reach 20 goals for the second straight season and allowed him set a career high in assists (27) and match a personal best in points (47). "Obviously you play to score goals. It's fun to get points," Bertuzzi said. "We all love playing with each other."
OVERTIME
1. Hurricanes F Sebastian Aho has not scored in five games but has 10 points in 10 meetings versus Detroit.
2. The Red Wings signed D Alex Biega to a one-year contract extension.
3. Mrazek, who spent parts of six seasons with Detroit, is 2-1-0 with a 2.90 goals-against average versus his former team.