Hurricanes at Maple Leafs
The Carolina Hurricanes hit a speed bump on their road to a playoff position last time out but look to begin another surge when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. The Hurricanes saw their five-game point streak end with a 5-0 drubbing in Pittsburgh on Sunday as coach Bill Peters told reporters his team “hit a wall.”
Jordan Staal told the Raleigh News & Observer, “It’s a learner for our young group. There wasn’t a whole lot of jump from a lot of guys. We know we have to be better prepared for a game like that.” Carolina has had plenty of time to rest as it tries to extend its five-game point streak (4-0-1) against Toronto, which rallied to top the Hurricanes 2-1 in a shootout on Nov. 20. The Maple Leafs snapped a five-game slide on Tuesday as defenseman Matt Hunwick scored in the final seconds for a 3-2 win over Philadelphia. James Reimer is expected to start his second straight game for Toronto, which has scored just eight goals in its last six contests.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Carolina), Sportsnet (Toronto)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (20-19-8): Phil Di Giuseppe (eight points in 14 games), who suffered a concussion on Jan. 2, was recalled from the American Hockey League and will be reunited with linemates Victor Rask and Jeff Skinner. “He’s going in – right where he left,” Peters told reporters. “We missed the element of speed. He’s got the pace. We want to play fast, and he allows us to do that.” Cam Ward (concussion), who is 3-0-2 in his last five decisions, was placed on injured reserve Wednesday while Daniel Altshuller was recalled to back up Eddie Lack.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (17-20-7): One of the reasons Toronto has struggled offensively is a power play that converted just one of its 27 opportunities over the last seven contests. The absence of the injured James van Riemsdyk (29 points) does not help and the Maple Leafs will need contributions from players such as Joffrey Lupul, who snapped his 11-game goal-scoring drought on Tuesday. Leo Komarov leads the team in goals (16) and points (30) while Tyler Bozak (29 points) and Nazem Kadri (24) both have notched an assist in back-to-back games.
OVERTIME
1. Carolina D Justin Faulk (32 points) leads the team in scoring but has been blanked in three straight games.
2. Toronto RW Brad Boyes, whose next game will be the 800th of his career, is five points shy of 500.
3. Hurricanes RW Kris Versteeg has totaled three goals and three assists in his last six contests.