Hurricanes are in Buffalo to start home and home with the Sabres

Coming off the back of a disappointing 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild, the Carolina Hurricanes are tonight in the city of Buffalo as the Northern New York team will be the Canes’ opponents in this back-to-back series. The Hurricanes will be seeking the chance to become the second team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a playoff spot as their magic number remains at just four.

While the Sabres are a team that is a long way from any playoff relevance, they’re still a group of players that can play in the NHL and the Hurricanes will need to not take this young team lightly. Buffalo has had a decent run of results lately and has run some of the playoff teams closer than they would have liked it to have been. This is a team capable of upsetting opponents.

Tonight, we’re going to see the Canes take on the Sabres for the second time this season after the Hurricanes blasted the Sabres back in early December as three of the Finnish quartet in Raleigh dominated the headlines. We will only see the two Finns on Carolina’s top line tonight, but that doesn’t mean they should be expected to have a lessened effect on the game.

We’re expecting to see Steven Lorentz return to the lineup for this one with the 6’4 giant taking up his place on the fourth line. He’s missed the last few games as he’s been watching from the press box, but it looks like the team has elected to give the 25-year old a few games now to help rest and rotate the bottom six. He’s going to have to continue to be a big part of the team moving forward.

This is yet another game for the Canes on ESPN as both games in this home-and-home series will be. However, the Canes need to win this regardless. They have a chance to clinch a spot in the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs. A win tonight could clinch them a place to play for the most difficult trophy to win in all of sports. Win and earn a chance for the playoffs.