Gameday: Hurricanes at Maple Leafs

TORONTO - "The life I love is makin' music with my friends, and I can't wait to get on the road again."
This is the gameday hub, where you can find all the latest news and information you need to know for this afternoon's centennial tilt featuring the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs. Make Hurricanes.com a regular stop throughout the day, as we update this hub with notes, photos and more as puck drop draws near.
With a 2 p.m. faceoff in Toronto, neither team will hold a morning skate. We'll have your usual gameday content right here, as always.
Last updated: 1:35 p.m.

CANES LINES: WARM-UPS
1:35 p.m.
Here's how the Hurricanes will line up for this afternoon's game in Toronto.
McGinn-Staal-Williams
Skinner-Rask-Teravainen
Aho-Ryan-Lindholm
Nordstrom-Kruger-Jooris
Slavin-Pesce
Fleury-Faulk
Hanifin-van Riemsdyk
Darling
Ward
Puck drop is coming up in 30 minutes!
BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF NORTH CAROLINA TOOLS TO VICTORY
12:35 p.m.
TV's Mike Maniscalco details this afternoon's Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina three Tools to Victory.
1. All Four Lines
Last time in Toronto, 10 players recorded a point. The Hurricanes need to be a team that spreads the wealth offensively.
2. Give No Room
It's important that the Hurricanes defense plays a tight-checking game that takes away the time and space of the Toronto forwards.
3. Power Up
Scoring with the man advantage will go a long way this afternoon in Toronto.
WHY 2 P.M.?
10:10 a.m.
It's a Tuesday in Toronto, and the Hurricanes and Maple Leafs will drop the puck at 2 p.m. today. But, why?
Well, 100 years ago to the day, on Dec. 19, 1917, the Toronto Arenas (that's the jersey the Maple Leafs will be wearing today), played their first game, the first game in the NHL.
Today's game is a celebration of that anniversary, but perhaps more importantly, a look ahead to the next 100 years. The game is being played at 2 p.m. on a school night so that as many kids as possible can attend, which should make for a unique atmosphere inside Air Canada Centre.
"I think it's fun. I think it's awesome to be a part of it. 100 years of the NHL," head coach Bill Peters said. "They're wearing their Toronto Arenas jersey. I think it's going to be a fun day."
CANES HIT THE ROAD AGAIN
12:00 a.m.
After touching down in Raleigh for the weekend, the Carolina Hurricanes are back in the air again.
An extremely rare Tuesday afternoon tilt in Toronto begins the team's two-game road trip, which then continues to Nashville, and is an opportunity for the Hurricanes to extend their winning streak to a season-high four games.
After capping a two-week road trip with consecutive wins in Vegas (3-2 SO) and Buffalo (5-4 OT), the Hurricanes returned home for their fourth and final meeting of the season with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. In that critical divisional match-up, the Hurricanes won the second period and protected the lead in the third to skate away with a 2-1 win, their first regulation victory since Nov. 19.
"It's important to know how to win. If you're going to be in the playoffs and be a tough team to play against, you have to know how to win, especially when you have leads," said Noah Hanifin, who scored the game-winning goal on Saturday. "Tonight we had a lead in the whole third period and we found a way to hold it, so we're learning from that."
That win - a quality win at home against a quality opponent - marked the first time this season in which the Hurricanes have won three consecutive games. That number could be stretched to four on Tuesday afternoon.
"We need to get on a roll," said Scott Darling, who made 35 saves on 36 shots in one of, if not his best outing on Saturday. "They were all gutsy games, too. That's three hard wins. None of them came easy. That says something about the way the guys are working right now."
The Maple Leafs are 3-4-0 in the month of December and have only scored 10 goals in that stretch. The Leafs and Hurricanes, however, have combined for 18 head-to-head goals in their first two meetings of the season.
"There have been a lot of goals both ways," Peters said. "We'd like to get a healthy, high number, but we don't want to give up much. They've been off here for a while, so they are going to be rested and chomping at the bit. It's going to be a fun, exciting game. Both teams know how to play, so you're going to have to do good things in order to generate offense."
CANESPR NOTES: The Hurricanes have earned a point in eight of their last 11 games in Toronto (7-3-1). … Of the Hurricanes 32 games played this season, just 11 have been against teams currently out of the playoffs.
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- Caniac Meet Up: Downtown Raleigh Carolina Ale House - First Goal Contest pres. by Kayem