Carolina Hurricanes Look for First Preseason Win Against New York Islanders
By Brett Finger
Fresh off 16 more cuts to their training camp roster, the Carolina Hurricanes will look for their first win of the preseason tonight against the New York Islanders.
Information
Carolina Hurricanes (0-2-0) vs. New York Islanders (2-1-0)
Saturday, September 26, 2015 – 5:00 pm (EST)
Halifax, Nova Scotia (neutral site game)
TV/Radio – No TV/WRALSportsFan.com
Lineups
Carolina Hurricanes
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New York Islanders
TBA
Preview
Coming off of two consecutive stinging losses to kick off the 2015 preseason, the Carolina Hurricanes are set to ice their most NHL-ready lineup so far against the New York Islanders on Saturday.
The Canes fell to the Washington Capitals by a final score of 2-0 on Monday, followed by an embarrassing 7-3 loss to the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
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The team cut their roster down to 33 players yesterday, and with many players now out of the mix, the positional battles at every position will continue to get more and more heated and interesting.
Eddie Lack will get the nod tonight in goal for the Hurricanes. Lack stopped 22 of 22 in two periods against the Caps on Monday. He faced a whopping 18 shots in the second period alone, but he held his own and had an amazing first appearance with the Canes.
Lack is expected to play the first half of the game before Drew MacIntyre relives him mid-way through period two, according to CH.com.
Noah Hanifin and Haydn Fleury will both play tonight. It is widely believed that one of these guys will make the club and the other will fall out. All signs point to Hanifin, the 2015 5th overall pick, winning this battle, but Fleury still has time to prove that he is worthy of an NHL roster spot.
Eric Staal, Victor Rask and Elias Lindholm will form Carolina’s top line in Nova Scotia on Saturday and will likely lead the way on the man advantage. This line has been looked at multiple times throughout this week’s training camp practice sessions and certainly has high upside as an offensive-minded line with a good mix of offense, defense, and size.
Carolina Hurricanes
Riley Nash and Jeff Skinner will be featured on a line alongside reigning Stanley Cup Champion and veteran forward Kris Versteeg. Versteeg and Skinner have gelled this week in training camp.
For a preseason game, this is an important night for the Carolina Hurricanes. They have really started to narrow down their team and every game will be hugely important for young guys like Hanifin, Fleury, Woods, and Nordstrom, all of whom are in the lineup against the Isles.
Bill Peters expects a big turnaround out of his club in the next two games. Now it is up for the Hurricanes to deliver on the ice.
“It’s time to take a big step and do things right,” head coach Bill Peters said on Friday. “We’ve got two big lineups going, so we’re excited about seeing them play.”