RALEIGH, N.C. - The Carolina Hurricanes will once again be without captain Jordan Staal as they host the Washington Capitals at Lenovo Center this evening.
Staal missed Sunday's win in Philadelphia with a lower-body ailment that was labeled "hopefully nothing serious" by Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour, but unfortunately, the head coach sang a different tune this morning, telling reporters that the Conn Smythe Trophy winner will be out "anywhere from a month to two months" with a tear in his calf.
As the group trudges forward without him, Mark Jankowski was elevated to a role between Jordan Martinook and Nikolaj Ehlers on Sunday, and scored for the fourth consecutive contest. Based on this morning's groupings, he'll stay there, as will the newly constructed trio of Jesperi Kotkaniemi between Nicolas Deslauriers and Eric Robinson.
Brind'Amour also told reporters that he expects the team to call up a forward in Staal's absence, and that it doesn't necessarily have to be a center with Kotkaniemi moving to the middle.
As far as their last line of defense goes for this evening, Pyotr Kochetkov operated in the traditional starter's crease at morning skate. The team had rotated Kochetkov and Brandon Bussi on an every-other-game basis over the last five games, but appears set to ride the hot hand after the Russian backstop moved to 3-0-0 with an 18-save effort on Sunday.
See if the Canes can pick up their sixth win in a row at 6:45 p.m. on Hurricanes Hockey Network.
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Tonight's Projected Lineup...
Forwards
Carrier - Aho - Svechnikov
Hall - Stankoven - Blake
Ehlers - Jankowski - Martinook
Robinson - Kotkaniemi - Deslauriers
Defense
Slavin - Chatfield
Miller - Walker
Gostisbehere - Reilly
Starting Goaltender
Kochetkov
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Injuries
Seth Jarvis (Offseason Shoulder Surgery | Practicing | Expected To Be Out 4-6 Months From June 24)
Jordan Staal (Calf Tear | Expected To Be Out "A Month or Two" From Oct. 13)
Scratches
Juuso Valimaki
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PP1: Aho, Blake, Ehlers, and Svechnikov with Gostisbehere
PP2: Hall, Jankowski, and Stankoven with Miller and Walker
