At the Rink: Senators at Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Ottawa Senators continue to be a hot team and feel-good story. With an 11-1-1 mark in their past 13 games, they are five points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

All eyes will be on goaltender Andrew Hammond against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. He can tie Hockey Hall of Fame member Frank Brimsek's record for starting his career with 12 straight games allowing fewer than three goals (Boston Bruins, 1938-39). Hammond has a 10-0-1 record.

Hammond has spent most of the past two seasons honing his game with the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League. He has put up much better statistical numbers in the NHL than the AHL, something he attributes to the quality of play in front of him in Ottawa.

"It's more structured," said Hammond, who had a 3.59 goals-against average in the AHL this season compared to a 1.39 mark in the NHL. "But at the end of the day it's the same game I've played since I was 6 years old. You have to be a little realistic, that this is the NHL. But for me it's about realizing a dream and trying to run with the opportunity."

At the same time, the Senators will have some recent history to overcome. They are 1-10-1 in Raleigh since Dec. 12, 2007. But that won't be on the minds of the players, not with the vibe that is running through the Senators locker room. They are 13-2-2 in their past 17 games.

"The game is 99 percent confidence. It's so important," forward Kyle Turris said. "Hammond has had unbelievable confidence since he came in. He started giving us the confidence that we have the opportunity to win every game. ... There's a lot of energy in our room, a lot of excitement."

The Senators will be without Craig Anderson to back up Hammond. Coach Dave Cameron said Anderson aggravated a hand injury. Chris Driedger, who has spent most of the season with the Evansville IceMen of the ECHL, will dress against Carolina.

Hurricanes defenseman Rasmus Rissanen will miss 3-4 weeks with an injury to the medial collateral ligament in his knee, sustained when he fell awkwardly along the boards Saturday during a 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ryan Murphy, who sat out Saturday because of an illness, will go back in the lineup. He did not appear to be fully recovered but he is the only extra defenseman available to the Hurricanes.

"He's going, so we'll see," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said.

Here are the projected lineups:

SENATORS

Milan Michalek - Kyle Turris - Mark Stone

Mike Hoffman - Mika Zibanejad - Bobby Ryan

Matt Puempel - David Legwand - Alex Chiasson

Erik Condra - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Curtis Lazar

Marc Methot - Erik Karlsson

Patrick Wiercioch - Cody Ceci

Jared Cowen - Mark Borowiecki

Andrew Hammond

Chris Driedger

Scratched: Colin Greening, Eric Gryba

Injured: Craig Anderson (hand), Robin Lehner (concussion), Clarke MacArthur (concussion), Chris Phillips (back), Zack Smith (wrist), Chris Neil (thumb)

HURRICANES

Eric Staal - Jordan Staal - Nathan Gerbe

Chris Terry - Victor Rask - Andrej Nestrasil

Jeff Skinner - Elias Lindholm - Alexander Semin

Brad Malone - Jay McClement - Patrick Dwyer

Ron Hainsey - Justin Faulk

John-Michael Liles - Ryan Murphy

Michal Jordan - Brett Bellemore

Anton Khudobin

Cam Ward

Scratched: Riley Nash

Injured: Jack Hillen (concussion), Rasmus Rissanen (knee)

Status report: Ward did not take the morning skate. Peters said the goaltender is fighting a flu bug that has moved through the Hurricanes locker room, but that he will dress against Ottawa.

Who's hot: The Senators are 7-0-1 in their past eight road games. … Karlsson has two goals and two assists in his past two games. … Nestrasil had two assists in Carolina's 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.