Carolina Hurricanes: Canes Look for Bounce Back Win Against Jackets

The Carolina Hurricanes take on the Columbus Blue Jackets Thursday night in Raleigh, seeking their ninth win in ten games.

A 4-2 defeat Tuesday night at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings ended the Carolina Hurricanes’ eight-game winning streak. The Hurricanes struggled to stay out of the penalty box and the Red Wings made them pay twice in the first period. Nino Niederreiter tied the team-lead in goals with his13th of the year and Sebastian Aho scored the other marker off a beautiful play from Martin Necas.

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While special teams has been excellent all year, the Canes fell short in that department against the Wings.

The Columbus Blue Jackets come in off a four-game homestead, winning one of the four. Oliver Bjorkstrand has been their best player with 23 points, but they are not getting enough production throughout their lineup to be a force thus far in the Discover Central Division. The Blue Jackets sit fifth in the division with 29 points, while the Hurricanes lie third in the three-headed race for first with 41 points.

The Canes are 2-1 against Columbus this year. The last battle was a 7-3 Carolina victory back on February 15th. However, the Blue Jackets have consistently been a difficult team to play against and tonight should be no exception. The Hurricanes will have their hands full as they look to bounce back and return to their winning ways tonight.

Ned Back in Net

There have been many positives about this historic start to the season for the Carolina Hurricanes, but one that might be the biggest is the emergence of Alex Nedeljkovic.

Nedeljkovic is expected to get the start Thursday night and he deserves it. He has been exceptional since his introduction into the lineup following the Petr Mrazek injury. He posts a record of 6-2-1 with an excellent .929 save percentage, 2.08 save percentage, and a shutout as well.

While James Reimer has been decent in Mrazek’s absence, Ned has been sparkling. There is a serious decision to be made once Mrazek is re-inserted into the lineup. Reimer’s experience helps and there could be questions about whether Ned can take on a regular backup workload consistently, but I think you need to trust the kid and give the hot hand the games he deserves.

The team has looked confident in front of the young netminder and it’s been Reimer who has been  the more shaky of the two as of late.

The Canes will ride Ned again tonight and I expect him to be excellent like he has all year.

Nino is Scorching

We know last season was a down year for Nino Niederreiter. This was going to be a big year for him to see if he could get back to the level he was at immediately after the Hurricanes traded for him. Boy, has he bounced back.

Prior to the season, I said Nino needed to have a big year to get the Canes where they want to be. Clearly, he read my article because through 28 games, he is tied for the team-lead in goals with 13. He has found his game again and has become a problem for teams night in and night out.

It’s not just the goals going on this season. He has been a presence. He has used his big body to wreak havoc on the forecheck, cause turnovers, and screen in front of the net. He has also been playing with players who have great skill level such as Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas. He has showcased his big shot with many of his goals being snipes from the circle.

It’s just a pleasure to see Nino get back to his game and prove his worth. He has always been in my mind an underrated player in the league when he is on his game and this year, he is proving it.

Final Game Notes

Expected Lines:

Forwards

Niederreiter-Aho-Necas

Svechnikov-Staal-Fast

McGinn-Martinook-Foegele

Paquette-Geekie-Lorentz

Defense

Slavin-Hamilton

Skjei-Pesce

Fleury-Bean

Goalies

Nedeljkovic

Reimer

Goalie Matchup:

Canes – Nedeljkovic

Blue Jackets – Korpisalo

Score Prediction

I think the Canes bounce back in a big way tonight. They’ll clean up their special teams miscues from Tuesday and put some behind Korpisalo on the power play tonight. Expect a big night from the Sebastian Aho line with Nedeljkovic holding down the fort in net.

Question for CC Readers: Do the Canes respond tonight after the loss to Detroit Tuesday?