Gameday: Blue Jackets vs. Hurricanes

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This is the gameday hub, where you can find all the latest news and information you need to know for tonight's Homegrown Series match-up featuring the Columbus Blue Jackets 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.
It's the second half of a back-to-back set coming off a two-week road trip, so the Hurricanes will not hold a morning skate. As usual, though, your gameday content will be found right here.
Last updated: 6:40 p.m.

BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF NORTH CAROLINA TOOLS TO VICTORY
6:40 p.m.
TV's Mike Maniscalco presents tonight's Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina three Tools to Victory.

CANES LINES: WARM-UPS
6:35 p.m.
Here's how the Canes will line up in their season series finale against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
McGinn-Staal-Williams
Skinner-Rask-Teravainen
Aho-Ryan-Lindholm
Nordstrom-Kruger-Jooris
Slavin-Pesce
Dahlbeck-Faulk
Hanifin-van Riemsdyk
Darling
Ward
Puck drop at PNC Arena is coming up in 30 minutes!

CANES GET FRESH BODIES IN
5:20 p.m.
On the second half of a back-to-back coming off a two-week road trip, the Hurricanes will insert fresh bodies into their lineup for their match-up against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Josh Jooris will draw in for Phil Di Giuseppe, Klas Dahlbeck will replace Haydn Fleury and Scott Darling will get the start in net.
"We expect them to come in and contribute tonight," head coach Bill Peters said.
Peters also said he'll employ the line of Skinner-Rask-Teravainen tonight. We'll know how the rest of the lineup shakes out in warm-ups.
Here's more from the Canes' bench boss.
On if he remembered his way around PNC Arena after the long road trip: "I didn't have any keys to get in, but I got in. Had to get a little help."
On assessing the road trip: "Disappointed in the beginning in some of the losses … some of the leads we didn't hold onto. Happy with the way we played in the last two. You're 0-2-2 going into the final, and you end up .500. Pretty pleased with that, but overall very similar to the rest of the year."
On keys to stringing winning streaks together: "There are lots of things in the game we have to get better at. That's the reality. I'll start with specialty teams. Specialty teams here tonight. If we win it, we're going to give ourselves a real good chance to win a hockey game."
On recently having played a number of overtime/shootout games: "When you're up and you end up in overtime, you're disappointed. You'd like to close that out. But when you're down and all of a sudden you end up with a point and the chance to get the extra, you're happy with it. Every overtime and every shootout is different. ... We've got to do a better job of closing teams out, and that comes down to puck management."
On the challenge of back-to-backs: "There are challenges in all of your back-to-backs, but our team has been very good in back-to-backs. ... You've got to be mentally strong and let your mind power the body. If you do that, you'll be good."
CANES RETURN HOME TO HOST BLUE JACKETS
3:00 a.m.
The Carolina Hurricanes return home from their season-long, six-game road trip to host the Columbus Blue Jackets.
In a critical game against a Metropolitan Division opponent, the Hurricanes will also be looking to accomplish something they've yet to this season: win three games in a row.
The Hurricanes finished their road trip with two straight victories in Vegas and Buffalo, capturing six of a possible 12 points on the trip (2-2-2).
"We wanted to have a better trip than how we started. That being said, I thought we played some pretty good hockey in the first couple of games; we just didn't play a full 60 minutes," Derek Ryan said. "The wins are] huge for confidence and morale for the trip."
"It was frustrating for a little while there. I think the group knew we had better," Jordan Staal said. "We definitely came together, had a good chat and tried to get it back on track. Just get back to working. The guys, the last three or four games, have really just worked. Things have started moving in the right direction."
The Hurricanes capped the trip with a wild 5-4 overtime win in Buffalo. A 1-1 game in the third period quickly turned into a back-and-forth affair, as the two teams combined for six goals in 8:14.
"It kind of seemed like there wasn't a whole lot of action going on," Ryan said. "It was just kind of a slow, choppy game. Not a lot going on through the first 40 minutes. All of a sudden, the game came alive and some goals were scored. Just a resilient effort from us. We battled through some sluggishness in the first 40 minutes coming off the jet lag, travel, long road trip - all the excuses in the book - but we were able to rally together and get it done."
The Blue Jackets sit in first place in the Metropolitan Division at 20-11-1 and 41 points through 32 games. Columbus has won three of its last four contests and is in town waiting for the road-weary Canes.
"We've been on the road for 13 days? Wow. Let's get home then," Peters said. "Let's get home and suck it up. It's the way it is in the National Hockey League."
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