The Carolina Hurricanes are currently riding a three game winning streak. They look to continue this hot stretch of hockey on Tuesday night as they take on the Chicago Blackhawks on the road at the United Center.
After what was an abysmal stretch of hockey for the Carolina Hurricanes to start the month of November (going 1-4-0), things have started to even out for the team. Since then, the Hurricanes are 3-0-0, winning two of those games in overtime thrillers. They now occupy 3rd place in the Metropolitan division with a 12-7-1 record , good for 25 points.
It seemed as if Carolina was finally back to being healthy after energetic forward Jordan Martinook returned to the lineup, but the injury bug has hit the team once again with Erik Haula being out for a considerable amount of time. The Hurricanes recalled forward Eetu Luostarinen from the Charlotte Checkers to replace the injured forward.
The Hurricanes are taking on the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that isn’t expected to make the playoffs this season. So far, they’ve posted a 9-7-4 record and are currently 5th place in the Central division with 22 points. This is a team that is mixed with seasoned veterans and young up-and-coming players, so it would be wise to not take this team lightly.
These two teams have played each other once already this season. The Hurricanes defeated the Blackhawks 4-0 on October 26th. Backed by a tremendous effort in net by Petr Mrazek, where he stopped all 32 shots he faced, Carolina played an excellent game. They will look to replicate that style of play on Tuesday night.
This will be the 79th time these two teams have faced off against each other. The overall record currently stands at 36-33-7-2 in favor of Chicago. As we can see, these two teams have been fairly evenly matched against one another throughout their history.
Carolina is looking to extend their winning streak to four games. With being in a division as tough as the Metropolitan is this year, every game truly counts. The Hurricanes have to take advantage of lesser teams and pounce on those opportunities for much-needed points. Let’s take a look at three keys to securing a win against the Blackhawks on Tuesday night.