Preview: Hurricanes at Blue Jackets

HURRICANES (21-15-7) at BLUE JACKETS (29-9-4)
7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-CR, NHL.TV

Hurricanes team scope

Defenseman Ron Hainsey will be a game-time decision when the Carolina Hurricanes go for a fifth straight win. Hainsey missed the morning skate Tuesday because of an undisclosed injury. Klas Dahlbeck will be in the lineup if Hainsey is unavailable. "We'll shuffle the pairs up a little bit but we'll deal with that once we get a little more information on Ronnie," coach Bill Peters said. The Hurricanes won all four games on their homestand, including a 5-3 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 10, to run their record to 14-1-1 in their past 16 home games. The Hurricanes are 6-11-6 on the road, where they play three of the next four. "We've played real well on the road. We haven't gotten some wins," Peters said. "Early in the year we had some games get away from us on the road so I don't mind how we play at home or on the road. It's just now we've got to start accumulating some wins on the road." The Blue Jackets might provide the cure. The Hurricanes are 9-1-2 in their past 12 games against the Blue Jackets, with wins in five of the past six games (5-1-0). "I don't know why that is," Hurricanes center Jordan Staal said. "They're a good team and we know we have to play our best to beat a team like that."

Blue Jackets team scope

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky will start after missing three games with an illness. Bobrovsky leads the NHL with 26 wins and has a 2.00 goals-against average. In Bobrovsky's place, Joonas Korpisalo went 1-1-0 with a 2.54 GAA and .922 save percentage in two games, and Anton Forsberg went 0-1-0 with a 4.10 GAA and .852 save percentage in one game. Captain Nick Foligno said Monday he hoped Bobrovsky is healthy enough to return. "It's not a knock against any of those goalies. [Korpisalo] played outstanding [against the Tampa Bay Lightning] (31 saves in 3-1 victory) and won us a game. It's just good to have your team. You hate it when guys are missing, especially big parts of it. To have [Bobrovsky] back there, everyone feels comfortable." Foligno said he's eager to play the Hurricanes again after the loss to them last week. "We need to have some retribution in the sense of how we played against Carolina," he said. "I don't think we gave them our best game and we need to make sure we do that against them here at home."

Hurricanes projected lineup

Jeff Skinner -- Victor Rask -- Derek Ryan
Brock McGinn -- Jordan Staal -- Elias Lindholm
Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen -- Lee Stempniak
Joakim Nordstrom -- Jay McClement -- Viktor Stalberg
Jaccob Slavin -- Brett Pesce
Ron Hainsey -- Justin Faulk
Noah Hanifin -- Matt Tennyson
Cam Ward
Alex Nedeljkovic
Scratched: Klas Dahlbeck, Ryan Murphy, Ty Rattie
Injured:Eddie Lack (concussion), Bryan Bickell (illness)

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Brandon Saad -- Alex Wennberg -- Cam Atkinson
Scott Hartnell -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner -- William Karlsson -- Josh Anderson
Matt Calvert -- Lukas Sedlak -- Sam Gagner
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Jack Johnson -- David Savard
Scott Harrington -- Ryan Murray
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched:Dalton Prout, Markus Hannikainen
Injured: David Clarkson (back), Markus Nutivaara (undisclosed)

Status report

Nedeljkovic was recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League on Monday. Goaltender Michael Leighton was reassigned to the AHL. … With Nutivaara sustaining an injury against the Florida Panthers on Saturday, Harrington will play his fourth game; he played three consecutive games from Nov. 15-20. He was a healthy scratch in 39 of the Blue Jackets' first 42 games. "Obviously I've been waiting for this moment since the last couple of games I played," he said. "It was a while ago. It's good for your confidence when you can get in a couple of games."

Who's hot

McGinn has seven points (four goals, three assists) during a three-game point streak. Skinner has three goals and three assists in the past three games. Lindholm has three goals and nine points during a six-game point streak. … Faulk has one goal and three assists in his past three games. … Atkinson has 20 points (13 goals, seven assists) in his past 19 games.