Reestablishing Their Game
With three games remaining prior to the All-Star break and bye week - all three of which will be played in Western Canada - the Hurricanes are looking to reestablish their game. Winners of seven of their last 10 games, the Canes have dropped the last two games to teams below them in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
"It's going to be real important, obviously," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said about the upcoming stretch after practice on Saturday. "We try to go one game at a time, but we've got three before a lengthy break. We need the points."
PROJECTED LINEUP
The Hurricanes were hoping to rebound at home against Otttawa after suffering their 16th consecutive defeat at Madison Square Garden earlier in the week. But, the Senators took a 1-0 lead in the first period, built on it in the second and didn't look back.
"We had two bad shifts in the first period, and one ended up in our net. Then we got away from it," Brind'Amour said. "Just stopped doing it the way we needed to. Not really systematic stuff. The effort was good but misplaced, going away from our game plan and doing things we don't do."
Niederreiter Makes Good First Impression
Nino Niederreiter was acquired on Thursday afternoon by the Canes, and just over 24 hours later, he played his first game with the team. He skated on a line with Greg McKegg and Justin Williams and logged 16:57 of ice time, four shots on goal, eight total shot attempts, a hit and a takeaway.
"Nino was great. He was strong, talkative and patient with the puck," Williams said after the game. "I thought he was really good. He had a lot of opportunities and owned the front of the net pretty well."
Sebastian Aho centered Niederreiter, who is set to play in his 500th NHL game, and Williams in practice on Saturday before the team jet-set for Edmonton.
"We need to change a little something," Brind'Amour said. "Got a look at it today."
The Opposition
The Oilers are on the back half of a back-to-back set after dropping a 5-2 decision to the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. Edmonton is 23-22-3 on the season with a 12-11-1 record at home. Connor McDavid leads the team in scoring with 70 points (29g, 41a) in 46 games.
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS KEYS TO THE GAME
