RALEIGH, N.C. -- After missing 10 games with a lower-body injury, Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward will return Monday for a start against the Boston Bruins. Ward has been sidelined injury since leaving a game Oct. 24 against the Minnesota Wild.
While the Hurricanes get one key player back from injury, another is headed out of the lineup. Forward Alexander Semin left the game Saturday against the St. Louis Blues after a hit by Alex Pietrangelo. Semin returned to the ice briefly but then came out for the remainder of the game. Carolina coach Kirk Muller said Semin had an upper-body injury and was being evaluated Monday.
The news was no better for forward Jeff Skinner, who will miss his 11th straight game with an upper-body injury. Skinner did take the morning skate but was ruled out afterward.
"The nice thing is the team has been playing well with the injuries we've had and we've found ways to pick up points," Muller said. "We've got some guys missing who could make us a stronger team but until they get back we've got to have the attitude that we can win every night."
The Bruins are looking to snap a three-game road losing streak, including a 4-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Friday. Boston coach Claude Julien figures that goals will be hard to come by against the Carolina defense.
"They're a team that's doing a good job in the defensive zone, collapsing and not giving you much around the net area," Julien said. "I think it's going to be one of those nights where we're going to have to work for our goals."
Here are the projected lineups for the Bruins and the Hurricanes.
BRUINS
Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Loui Eriksson
Carl Soderberg - Chris Kelly - Reilly Smith
Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton
Dennis Seidenberg - Torey Krug
Matt Bartkowski - Johnny Boychuk
Scratched: Jordan Caron
Injured: Adam McQuaid (undisclosed)
HURRICANES
Drayson Bowman - Eric Staal - Tuomo Ruutu
Nathan Gerbe - Jordan Staal - Patrick Dwyer
Chris Terry - Riley Nash - Jiri Tlusty
Manny Malhotra - Radek Dvorak - Mike Komisarek
Scratched: Jay Harrison
Injured: Anton Khudobin (lower body), Alexander Semin (upper body), Jeff Skinner (upper body), Kevin Westgarth (upper body)
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