Gameday: Flames vs. Hurricanes

Sunday funday!
This is the gameday hub, where you can find all the latest news and information you need to know for tonight's cross-conference match-up between the Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes. Make Hurricanes.com a regular stop throughout the day, as we update this hub with notes, videos, photos and more as puck drop draws near.
With the mid-afternoon puck drop, the Hurricanes will not hold a morning skate, so we'll be passing along your usual gameday updates after lunch.
Last updated: 2:45 p.m.

BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF NORTH CAROLINA TOOLS TO VICTORY
2:45 p.m.
TV's Mike Maniscalco brings us this afternoon's Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina three Tools to Victory.

CANES LINES: WARM-UPS
2:35 p.m.
The Hurricanes will reinforcements back today, with both Elias Lindholm and Joakim Nordstrom set to rejoin the lineup.
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Sunday afternoon puck drop happens in Raleigh in 30 minutes!
LINEUP NOTES AND PETERS QUOTES
1:20 p.m.
Scott Darling will get the start in net for the Hurricanes today, according to head coach Bill Peters. Darling is coming off a win in Washington, in which he made 27 saves on 28 shots.
"I thought he was really in control of his movements, and I thought he handled the puck real well," Peters said. "I just really liked the poise he had and played with, and I really liked the way we played in front of him. Now we've got to be solid in front of him and let him do his job."
Elias Lindholm and Joakim Nordstrom, who both missed Friday's game with an illness, will likely draw back into the lineup today, Peters said, adding that he'd probably play them on the wing with Marcus Kruger in the middle.
"We canceled practice yesterday just to keep the guys away from each other and hopefully not allow it to spread," Peters said.
Here's more from the Canes' bench boss.
On his opinions of the bye week: "What I like about it is you know when it's coming and you plan your season around it and for it. There's nothing you can do about it. The only disappointing thing … is we were told we would play teams coming out of the bye at the same time. That's not true for all 31 teams. It's impossible for 31 teams, obviously, but for 30 it could have happened. Some did. ... It's something the competition committee will deal with again in the offseason."
On his plans for the bye week: "We'll see. I think my wife's got some ideas. They're in Buffalo at a youth hockey tournament. I'll find out postgame. ... I'm going to turn it off, for sure. I have to. ... I'm not going to Buffalo. I've been to Buffalo lots. We're done with them this year. I don't need to go back there for a while."
On his message to his team while they're away this week: "I want them looking after themselves. I want them to get refreshed and recharged and enjoy wherever they're going. If you're staying local … enjoy it. Freshen up. Get healthy. Stay in shape. When we come off our bye, we're playing a team that's already playing games. ... They're going to be in the rhythm of playing, and we're not. We'll have our hands full there. Let's look after our business here today, and the rest will look after itself."
CANES HOST FLAMES BEFORE BYE WEEK
12:00 a.m.
The Carolina Hurricanes will host the Calgary Flames for the first and only time of the season in their final game before the bye week.
The Hurricanes will not only be looking to head into their league-mandated five-day break on a high note but also rebound from a heartbreaking loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday night. The Hurricanes had a 3-2 lead in the third period, but Washington tied the game with just less than five minutes to play and then tallied the game-winning goal in the final seconds.
"It would have been nice to lock it down and get the two points," head coach Bill Peters said. "It didn't happen."
The challenge ahead is to flush any lingering disappointment from that end result in order to refocus for Sunday afternoon's match against Calgary.
"Sunday is a big game. Tough letting points slip tonight. I thought we battled hard," Jordan Staal said. "It's going to be a hard one to swallow. We're going to have to get that one down the hatch as soon as we can and come up with a big effort against Calgary."
"You play 82 games. It's one game out of 82. It's obviously not the result we wanted and kind of a tough break, but at the same time it's one game," Skinner said. "We've got to move on. Next game we have another opportunity to get two points."
Sunday marks the Flames' final game before their bye week, as well, and draws an end to a four-game road trip in which the team has won the first three games. In fact, Calgary is undefeated in 2018 and brings a six-game winning streak into the season series finale against Carolina. The Canes edged the Flames 2-1 when the two teams first met in the third week of the regular season.
The Hurricanes were without four lineup regulars on Friday night. Brett Pesce suffered an upper-body injury on Thursday morning in Washington. That night, Derek Ryan suffered an upper-body injury when he was boarded by Tom Wilson. Then, both Elias Lindholm and Joakim Nordstrom fell ill. Pesce is on injured reserve and will be out on Sunday, while the statuses of the other three are unknown.
CANESPR NOTES: Jordan Staal, who tallied his 200th career goal on Friday, is riding a five-game point streak (3g, 3a). … Scott Darling is 3-0-1 with a 1.24 goals-against average and a .959 save percentage in four career games against Calgary.
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