Leafs vs. Hurricanes preview: Category Offence

Toronto Maple Leafs at Carolina Hurricanes

Time: 7:00PM ET

Location: PNC Arena

Broadcast/Streaming:  TSN4, Fox Sports Carolina

Opponent SBNation Site: Canes Country

The Leafs continue their four-game road trip with the second of three meetings against the Hurricanes. Carolina took the first contest 5-2 after putting up 29 shots in the opening period (which was a franchise record by the way). The good guys responded by outshooting them 12-2 in the second frame, but it was a lost game by then and Curtis McElhinney had a lot to do with it.

It’ll be different circumstances this time around. The Leafs didn’t have Matthews and Nylander in the lineup then, and to add on to that, the last five days should have the team hungry to score some goals and get back in the win column.

Unfortunately, they’ll have to do it without Zach Hyman who will be serving the first of a two-game suspension after his hit on Charlie McAvoy on Saturday. Connor Brown gets an opportunity to produce on the scoresheet here as he’ll be up with Tavares and Marner on the top line while the Goat draws back in pushing Lindholm on the wing.

Maple Leafs

Lines from yesterday’s practice

Forward Lines

Connor Brown - John Tavares - Mitch Marner

Andreas Johnsson - Auston Matthews - Kasperi Kapanen

Patrick Marleau - Nazem Kadri - William Nylander

Par Lindholm - Frederik Gauthier - Tyler Ennis

Defence Pairs

Morgan Rielly - Ron Hainsey

Jake Gardiner - Nikita Zaitsev

Travis Dermott - Igor Ozhiganov

Goaltenders

Frederik Andersen

Garret Sparks

The Hurricanes, on the other hand, must be feeling good about themselves after taking the 4-1 victory over Anaheim last Friday. It was also the first time in five games where Carolina scored more than a single goal.

No exaggeration. They’re a team that piles on a decent number of shots a game to give themselves an opportunity to win but lack the finish to do so most nights. Getting Ferland back from his concussion may help with the game plan as he leads the Hurricanes in goals, but it’ll most likely come down to the play of Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen who have been the offensive guys for Carolina.

Carolina Hurricanes

Forward Lines

Jordan Martinook - Sebastian Aho - Teuvo Teravainen

Warren Foegele - Victor Rask - Phillip Di Giuseppe

Andrei Svechnikov - Lucas Wallmark - Justin Williams

Micheal Ferland - Clark Bishop - Brock McGinn

Defence Pairs

Jaccob Slavin - Dougie Hamilton

Calvin de Haan - Justin Faulk

Trevor van Riemsdyk - Brett Pesce

Goaltenders

Petr Mrazek

Scott Darling

Leafs vs Wild

The McElhinney magic won’t be in net today as he’s still injured. But even if he was, the Leafs need to get back in the swing of things and the Hurricanes have usually provided the team with some memorable moments.

Game on!