Bruins at Hurricanes preview

BRUINS (6-3-2) at HURRICANES (6-4-1)
7 p.m. ET; NESN, FS-CR, NHL.TV

Aho, who has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists), can join Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers, 1982-83) and Ken Linseman (Bruins, 1985-86). He can also set the Carolina Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers record for the longest season-opening point streak. Aho is tied with Ron Francis, who had 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 11 games with the Whalers in 1984-85.
Goalie Scott Darling, who sustained a lower-body injury in the final game of the preseason, will make his first start of the season for the Hurricanes.
Bruins defenseman Torey Krug, who injured his left ankle in the final game of the preseason, will make his season debut. GoalieJaroslav Halak, who shut out the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 on Thursday, will start.

Players to watch

Bruins forward David Pastrnak has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 10 games against the Hurricanes.
Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past two games, and eight points (three goals, five assists) in nine games against the Bruins.

They said it

"They play a hard game. They're very aggressive on the forecheck and they're very good at turning the puck over. We've got to buy some time for our defensemen to make a play. A lot of their young guys are becoming very good players in this League and they're hard to play against." -- Bruins center Patrice Bergeron on the Hurricanes
"It's [Darling's] time now. He had a really good offseason. It's just too bad he got derailed right before we were about to start. He's healthy now. We'll see what he can do for us. This is basically his coming out party. Hopefully we give him a good game in front of him."-- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Danton Heinen -- David Krejci -- Jake DeBrusk
Anders Bjork -- Joakim Nordstrom -- Chris Wagner
Ryan Donato -- Sean Kuraly -- Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara -- Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug -- John Moore
Jeremy Lauzon -- Steven Kampfer
Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask
Scratched: Colby Cave
Injured: David Backes (upper body), Charlie McAvoy (upper body), Matt Grzelcyk (lower body), Urho Vaakanainen (concussion), Kevan Miller (hand)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Micheal Ferland -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Warren Foegele -- Jordan Staal -- Justin Williams
Jordan Martinook -- Lucas Wallmark -- Andrei Svechnikov
Brock McGinn -- Nicolas Roy -- Valentin Zykov
Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton
Calvin de Haan -- Justin Faulk
Trevor van Riemsdyk -- Brett Pesce
Scott Darling
Petr Mrazek
Scratched:Phillip Di Giuseppe, Curtis McElhinney
Injured:Victor Rask (hand)

Status report

Grzelcyk, who sustained a lower-body injury in a 3-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, will not play. ... McAvoy has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 18. … The Hurricanes held a limited morning skate.

Stat pack

The Bruins have outscored opponents 14-7 in the third period. … Aho is tied with Eric Staal (14 assists, 2011-12) for the longest assist streak to begin a season in Hurricanes/Whalers history.