Hurricanes at Ducks
The Carolina Hurricanes look to halt their four-game losing streak when they continue their five-game road trip against the league-leading Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Carolina suffered a 4-1 home loss to Montreal in its final game prior to the Olympic break before dropping the first three contests of its trek. The skid continued Saturday as the Hurricanes yielded a power-play goal less than 8 1/2 minutes into the third period of a tie game en route to a 3-1 setback at Los Angeles.
Anaheim has struggled since beginning the season with a 22-game point streak at home (20-0-2), losing five of its last eight at Honda Center. Despite posting a 1-0 victory over visiting St. Louis on Friday in their first game since the conclusion of the Winter Games, the Ducks have had difficulty scoring at home as they've netted only three goals in the last four contests in their own building. Carolina captured the first meeting of the season, skating to a 3-2 shootout triumph at home after Chris Terry scored the decisive goal in the third round.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN (Carolina), Prime Ticket (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (26-25-9): Andrej Sekera's career season continued Saturday as he extended his point streak to three games by reaching the 10-goal mark for the first time in his eight NHL seasons. The defenseman has collected three goals and eight assists in his last 12 contests. One bright spot for Carolina during the road trip has been its penalty-killing unit, which is 14-for-16 over the three games.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (42-14-5): Anaheim kept Tim Jackman in the fold Saturday, signing the rugged right wing to a one-year contract extension. "For an organization like this to say they want me back for another year is something my family and I are really excited about," he said. The 32-year-old Jackman has recorded one goal, one assist and 48 penalty minutes in 20 games since being acquired from Calgary on Nov. 21. Center Mathieu Perreault suffered an upper-body injury in Friday's win and is unlikely to play against Carolina, according to coach Bruce Boudreau.
OVERTIME
1. Carolina RW Alexander Semin sat out Saturday's loss with a lower-body injury suffered at Dallas two nights earlier.
2. Ducks RW Jakob Silfverberg could replace Perreault in the lineup after being a healthy scratch on Friday.
3. The Hurricanes scored a total of four goals over the first three games of their road trip.