Bruins at Hurricanes
The Boston Bruins look to strengthen their tenuous grasp on the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. Milan Lucic recorded his 17th career two-goal performance as Boston snapped a six-game skid (0-3-3) with a resounding 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon. The dominant performance left little question on the ice, but the Bruins briefly were fumbling for answers as Tuukka Rask unexpectedly departed 10 seconds into the middle period.
"He's fine," coach Claude Julien said of the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, likely easing the fears of the fans as well. "It looks like it might have been a case of dehydration, so he's scheduled to travel with us, he's scheduled to be with us and he should be fine for (Sunday)." The Bruins, who are clinging to a one-point lead over Ottawa, have been locked in a pair of tight battles with the cellar-dwelling Hurricanes - posting a 2-1 victory on Nov. 15 before falling in a shootout by the same score on Jan. 4.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, RSN, NESN (Boston), FSN Carolinas
ABOUT THE BRUINS (37-25-13): Patrice Bergeron has scored in both meetings with Carolina and is riding a five-game point streak during which he has collected two goals and three assists. Carl Soderberg is showing signs of snapping out of his pronounced slump, scoring for the second time in five games on Saturday after going 24 contests without a tally. Reilly Smith also scored to put an end to his 14-game goalless drought.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (28-36-10): Captain Eric Staal had the lone tally in the shootout of the last meeting with Boston and also scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period of a 3-1 victory over New Jersey on Saturday. Rookie Victor Rask set up a goal against the Devils to extend his point streak to four games during which he has recorded one tally and three assists. After Cam Ward made 21 saves on Saturday, Anton Khudobin could get another crack at his former team after turning aside 19 shots - and all three in the shootout - to pick up the win in the last meeting.
OVERTIME
1. Should Rask get the call on Sunday, he'll vie for his first win this season when playing on back-to-back days (0-5-2).
2. Carolina's Justin Faulk scored his 15th goal on Saturday, moving within one of tying Anton Babchuk (2008-09) for the team's record for defensemen since the franchise relocated in 1997.
3. The Bruins are 5-for-13 on the power play after failing on each of their previous 14 opportunities.