Carolina Hurricanes Visit the Calgary Flames: Game Preview

The Carolina Hurricanes are back on the ice tonight in Calgary for their first game following the NHL All Star break.

The Carolina Hurricanes are coming back from a week’s “vacation” hoping that the strong play and good results they had before the break continue into the final 31 games of the season. With almost all of the team healthy, and every part of the Coach Peters’ system seeming to click right now, the Canes really need to step on the gas and move up the standings.

They currently sit only one point out of a wild card spot in the East, two points out of guaranteed spot with third in the Metropolitan and, surprisingly to many, they are only five points behind the second place Rangers. Facing a struggling team tonight in the Calgary Flames, this is a game that the Hurricanes should win.

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Game Information

Carolina Hurricanes at Calgary Flames
Wednesday, February 3, 9:30 pm
Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta
Fox Sports Carolinas – 99.9 FM The Fan

Season Records

Carolina Hurricanes – 23-20-8 – 54 points – 6th in Metro – 10th in Eastern

Calgary Flames – 21-24-3 – 45 points – 6th in Pacific – 13th in Western

Team Records – Last 10-20-30 Games with Points %

Carolina Hurricanes – 7-2-1 (75%) – 11-6-3 (63%) – 16-10-4 (58%)

Calgary Flames – 3-6-1 (35%) – 9-10-1 (48%) – 15-13-2 (53%)

Team/Game Notes

Coming out of the all-star break the Calgary Flames are just two points out of last place, and eight points out of a play off position in the Western Conference. They went into the All Star break with a bad taste in their mouths, dropping three straight before their hiatus. They also have seen their previously strong home-ice advantage slip away, losing 5 of the last 7 in the Saddledome.

More from Cardiac Cane

The city of Calgary, and pretty much most of the NHL and its fans, are awaiting a ruling from the NHL regarding the Dennis Wideman collision with linesman Don Henderson prior to the All Star break. Speculation has been all over the place between 10 games to over-20 games, but we’ll just have to wait and see what the league decides. Wideman is currently on indefinite suspension.

Calgary Coach Hartley is hoping his top line, that took the Flames to the playoffs down the stretch last year, will finally ignite this season. The line of Johnny Gaudreau, Jiri Hudler and Sean Monahan combined for 44 goals and 98 points in 34 games after the all-star break in 2015.

On the other side of the coin, the Carolina Hurricanes headed into the All Star break riding high on a 5-0 drubbing of the Chicago Blackhawks, taking them to a very good 7-2-1 over the last ten games, and a 11-6-3 record over the last 20. If the Canes can just keep up the pace they are on over the last 20 contests, they would end the season with around 93 points, and a decent shot at a playoff spot.

The injury report is good for both teams. Carolina has taken Cam Ward off the injured reserve list, and he is expected to back up the hot Eddie Lack tonight in Calgary. Brett Pesce was placed on the IR list over the weekend with a lower body injury. The Hurricanes recalled Phil DiGiuseppe and Ryan Murphy from the Charlotte Checkers. DiGiuseppe is sure to see some good ice time tonight after using the break to keep fresh in Charlotte. We’ll see how much play Murphy gets in replacing Pesce.

Calgary will again miss Michael Ferland, still recovering from an upper body injury, and Dennis Wideman, because of his indefinite suspension.

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Coming off a week’s rest, and feeling good about how they played the week before, the Hurricanes should hit the ice ready to keep the momentum going. This is one of those remaining games on the schedule that they should win if they want to make the playoffs. Let’s see if Coach Peters has the guys motivated to make a strong stretch run to April.

Go Canes!