Canadiens vs Hurricanes game thread

The Hurricanes get some semblance of a big line tonight with the return of Jordan Staal to the line-up. Staal joins his brother Eric and former Sabre Nathan Gerbe on the top line giving the Sabres a legitimate offensive force something the Canes have lacked this year. Jordan Staal has missed the entirety of the season to this point and Alexander Semin and Jiri Tlusty have been in out of the lineup with injuries so Carolina really hasn’t had some of its bigger weapons available on a nightly basis.

It looks like Nathan Beaulieu will be skating alongside Sergei Gonchar on the back end giving the Canadiens a nice rookie-veteran second pairing like Subban-Markov lite. David Desharnais will skate on Plekanec’s left side with PA Parenteau on his right. Lars Eller will centre Jiri Sekac and Brandon Prust and Malhotra will be between Andrighetto and Weise.

Carey Price will face off against Cam Ward in nets.

Jiri Tlusty also makes his return tonight giving the Canes some punch and experience in their bottom six. Eric Staal plays in his 800th game for the franchise joining only two others at that plateau. Can you name the other two former Whalers/Hurricanes on that list?

Puck drop is at 7:00 PM ET (8 PM in Newfoundland). You can watch:

In Canada (English): Sportsnet-East
In Canada (French): RDS
In the Canes’ Region: FS-CR
Elsewhere: NHL Center Ice or NHL Gamecenter Live

Scratched: Michael Bournival, Mike Weaver, Bryan Allen,

Here they are, rock you like a Hurricane:

Scratched: Zach Boychuk

Injured: Alexander Semin, Andrej Nestrasil, John-Michael Liles

Check out the opposing side at Canes Country

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