Hurricanes at Bruins preview

HURRICANES (27-25-10) at BRUINS (37-15-8)
7 p.m. ET; NESN, FS-CR, NHL.TV

Bergeron, who is third on the Bruins with 54 points (27 goals, 27 assists), will be re-evaluated in two weeks. He was injured during a 4-3 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday but stayed in the game and played in a 4-1 loss against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.
Nash, who was acquired from the New York Rangers in a trade Sunday, made his Bruins debut that day against the Sabres.
The Bruins are two points behind the Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic Division with five games in hand.
The Hurricanes will look to end their season-long five-game losing streak (0-4-1). They are five points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with one game in hand.

Players to watch

Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past eight games.
Bruins forward Brad Marchand has 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in his past 18 games.

They said it

"When we're on task and everyone's playing well, we're a very good team. And when we deviate a little bit, that's when it gets a little dicey." -- Hurricanes coach Bill Peters
"There's been discussions he's up for the Hart, the MVP of the League, so obviously it's going to hurt. But we've been through this a bit earlier in the year, where we've had to have different guys step up. We don't expect one person to replace [Patrice Bergeron], it can be done by committee." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy

Hurricanes projected lineup

Sebastian Aho -- Elias Lindholm -- Teuvo Teravainen
Brock McGinn -- Derek Ryan -- Justin Williams
Jeff Skinner -- Victor Rask -- Phillip Di Giuseppe
Joakim Nordstrom --
Lucas Wallmark
-- Lee Stempniak
Jaccob Slavin -- Justin Faulk
Noah Hanifin -- Brett Pesce
Haydn Fleury -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Scott Darling
Cam Ward
Scratched:Klas Dahlbeck, Jordan Staal
Injured: None

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Riley Nash -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Rick Nash
Danton Heinen -- Tommy Wingels -- David Backes
Tim Schaller -- Sean Kuraly -- Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk -- Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Brian Gionta, Adam McQuaid, Nick Holden
Injured:Patrice Bergeron (fractured foot)

Status report

Wingels, who was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, will make his Bruins debut and replace Bergeron in the lineup.

Stat pack

The Hurricanes last lost six in a row Dec. 4-16, 2014. ... The Bruins are 2-3-0 without Bergeron this season.