Hurricanes cap off regular season at home to the New Jersey Devils

After 81 grueling games in a condensed schedule battling Covid shutdowns, inconsistency, injuries, and being in the toughest division in the sport, the Metropolitan Division champions will complete their regular season campaign at home as they host the New Jersey Devils. This will be a very different Hurricanes team to the ones we have seen of late, A lot of players are being rested tonight.

With nothing to play for, Carolina has opted to rest its captain, star defenseman, and their premier winger as Jaccob Slavin, Jordan Staal, and Andrei Svechnikov will not be in the line-up tonight. They’re going to go with a roster that consists of more of the depth players than the core so that the team has the best chance of getting healthy before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Don’t risk injuries in a meaningless game.

Carolina has won their last five coming into this one, and the Canes won their last game on home ice with a dramatic comeback against the Winnipeg Jets. Carolina’s play at PNC Arena has labeled the building as a difficult place to come and get a win on the road. With that said, this isn’t going to be a normal game with so many of the big players sitting this one out for their protection. It’s going to be different from the Canes we know and love.

Carolina’s goalie of choice for this one is the Finnish veteran Antti Raanta. Raanta confirmed he just tweaked something when he was taken out of the Islanders game a few days ago. He’s completely healthy and good to go for tonight. He can help Carolina confirm that they will be the organization capturing the William M Jennings trophy at the end of the season. All he has to do is hold the devils to a goal or less.