The 7-game-winning streak is on the line tonight for the Carolina Hurricanes as they host the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Lenovo Center. The Canes beat a Metro Division foe on Tuesday when they scored 6 goals to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers. This will be the last game in Raleigh for the next week as the Canes head back on the road for a 3-game trip to the Mid-West. Colorado, Vegas, and Utah are the next up for the Canes.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70530776/1207242304.0.jpg)
The Canes are tied for first in the Metro Division with the Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils, all with 18 points. The Canes have a game in hand on Washington and four games in hand on New Jersey. Rod Brind'Amour's bunch have defeated both the Capitals and the Devils head to head.
The Penguins are currently at the bottom of the division with 12 points, only ahead of the Flyers. Pittsburgh is 2-4-2 away from home, while the Canes have thrived in Raleigh with a 4-1 record. The Penguins also played Tuesday and lost in a shootout 4-3 on Long Island against the Islanders. They are in the middle of a 3-game road trip that finished against the Capitals tomorrow.
With no back-to-back contests in the near future, Pyotr Kochetkov should continue to get the nod in goal while the Penguins have gone with a trio of keepers this season in Tristan Jarry, Joel Blomqvist, and Alex Nedeljkovic. Nedeljkovic played well on Tuesday in the loss so it may be Blomqvist's turn in the rotation. Both Blomqvist and Nedeljkovic have played 6 games. Nedekjkovic has the better statistics with a 2.76 GAA and a .900 save3 percentage. Both goalies have two victories each.
Not much has changed in the two team's rosters since they last met on October 18th when the Canes began their long road trip with a 4-1 victory.
Pittsburgh continues to be led by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin with Malkin having the edge in points with 16. Crosby has picked up his goal-scoring with 6 to lead the team in that category with Rickard Rakell. Rakell has stepped up while secondary scoring has been limited to start the season.
The blue line has been helping out offensively, literally. Erik Karlsson and Matt Grzelcyk both have 7 assists on the year. Marcus Pettersson has 5 of his assists and long-time Penguin defenseman, Kris Letang has 2 goals.
The Penguins are a vulnerable club right now and this is a good chance for the Canes to remain hot before facing some difficult opponents on the road next week.
