Carolina Hurricanes Host the Florida Panthers Tonight at Lenovo Center

After Tuesday night's victory in Tampa Bay, the Carolina Hurricanes preseason continues this weekend. The Florida Panthers will host the Carolina Hurricanes this evening before playing again Saturday night in Florida. The defending champions will surely bring a younger roster to the Lenovo Center, resting most regulars.

Rod Brind'Amour and company will go with a heavy veteran lineup tonight in front of the home crowd. Besides Josiah Slavin, Noel Gunler, Ruslan Khazheyev, and Ryan Suzuki, the Canes lineup will be all regulars from last year and new faces like Sean Walker, William Carrier, and Jack Roslovic. Shayne Gostisbehere will also play but he is sort of new.

Just as Tuesday was special for the Brind'Amour family as Rod's son, Skyler, played for his coach and father, the Slavin brothers will play for the first time together in Carolina red and black.

Frederik Andersen will get his first action of the season and Seth Jarvis will hit the ice for the first time since signing his big extension to stay in Raleigh for the next 8 years. It will be interesting to see Brind'Amour's line combinations with mostly regulars this evening.

Just as the Panthers are throwing out a young lineup, expect the Canes to do the same tomorrow in Florida. I would have liked to have seen Jackson Blake and Bradly Nadeau get a chance to play with the regulars but they will see plenty of ice time tomorrow night.

After this weekend the training camp roster should start to get thinner. With an already established lineup, Brind'Amour will want to have the regulars getting more minutes for the final two preseason games to prepare for opening night.

Three preseason games remain after this weekend, starting on Wednesday against the Nashville Predators. Next Friday will wrap up the home preseason schedule as the Canes host the Tampa Bay Lightning. The next day the preseason wraps up with another contest against the Predators in Nashville.