RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes will be without defenseman Joni Pitkanen for Thursday night's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Pitkanen is expected to miss several days after leaving Tuesday's 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils with an injury.
Fellow blueliner Tim Gleason also could be out. He is nursing a lower-body injury after playing 20:07 against the Devils.
Carolina has recalled defenseman Michal Jordan from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League. He has yet to make his NHL debut.
Coming off a successful 4-1-1 road trip in which Cam Ward was strong in the net, the Hurricanes will turn to Dan Ellis against the Maple Leafs. In the most recent game at PNC Arena (on Feb. 1), Ellis shut out the Ottawa Senators, 1-0.
The Maple Leafs are riding their first four-game winning streak since Jan. 3-9, 2012. Their most recent loss came to Carolina in a 4-1 decision in Toronto.
"The Staal brothers are big-bodied centerman who drive the offense for the Carolina hockey club," Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said. "We found out first hand in our building how dominant they can be. We have to be neat and tidy and do some things to limit their time and space."
Here are the projected lineups for the Hurricanes and Maple Leafs:
HURRICANES
Jiri Tlusty – Eric Staal – Alexander Semin
Jeff Skinner – Jordan Staal – Patrick Dwyer
Drayson Bowman – Jussi Jokinen – Chad LaRose
Andreas Nodl – Tim Brent – Tim Wallace
Tim Gleason/Michal Jordan – Joe Corvo
Jay Harrison – Bobby Sanguinetti
Injuries: Tuomo Ruutu, Joni Pitkanen
Scratch: Kevin Westgarth
MAPLE LEAFS
James Van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel
Nikolai Kulemin – Mikhail Grabovski – Leo Komarov
Jay McClement – Nazem Kadri – Clarke MacArthur
Colton Orr – David Steckel – Frazer McLaren
John-Michael Liles – Michael Kostka
Dion Phaneuf – Korbinian Holzer
Injured: Matt Frattin, Joffrey Lupul, Carl Gunnarsson, Mike Brown, James Reimer