Hurricanes at Panthers preview
Carolina looks to match best franchise start; Yandle of Florida to play in 800th consecutive game
by Alain Poupart / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
HURRICANES (3-0-0) at PANTHERS (1-1-0)
7 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-CR, NHL.TV
The Game
The Carolina Hurricanes can equal the best start in Carolina/Hartford Whalers history when they visit the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Tuesday.
A victory would match the 4-0-0 start of the Whalers in 1995-96.
Goalie James Reimer, acquired by the Hurricanes in a trade with the Panthers on June 30, will start against his former team. He made 32 saves in a 3-2 overtime win at the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
Florida defenseman Keith Yandle will become the fifth player in NHL history and the first born in the United States to play in 800 consecutive games. He will join Doug Jarvis (964), Garry Unger (914), Steve Larmer (884) and Andrew Cogliano (830).
The Panthers are coming off a 4-3 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning in their home opener on Saturday.
Players to watch
Hurricanes forward Erik Haula has scored a goal in each of Carolina's first three games.
Panthers forward Mike Hoffman, who had a hat trick on Saturday, is the first player in Florida history with at least four goals in the first two games of a season.
They said it
"It seems like that's what a lot of coaches do, you throw a guy out there playing against his old team. You saw the other night with Tampa [Bay]. They threw [Curtis McElhinney] at us and he played a phenomenal game, so that's what we're hoping to get." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour on starting James Reimer against his former team
"Every single night we feel that we've got to take care of business no matter where we are, but especially at home, focus on playing the right way." -- Panthers coach Joel Quenneville
Hurricanes projected lineup
Nino Niederreiter -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov -- Jordan Staal -- Brock McGinn
Ryan Dzingel -- Erik Haula -- Martin Necas
Warren Foegele -- Lucas Wallmark -- Jordan Martinook
Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton
Joel Edmundson -- Brett Pesce
Jake Gardiner -- Haydn Fleury
James Reimer
Petr Mrazek
Scratched: None
Injured: Trevor van Riemsdyk (shoulder)
Panthers projected lineup
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov
Mike Hoffman -- Vincent Trocheck - Brett Connolly
Frank Vatrano -- Henrik Borgstrom -- Jayce Hawryluk
Dryden Hunt -- Noel Acciari -- Colton Sceviour
Mike Matheson -- Aaron Ekblad
MacKenzie Weegar -- Anton Stralman
Keith Yandle -- Mark Pysyk
Sergei Bobrovsky
Sam Montembeault
Scratched: Denis Malgin, Josh Brown
Injured: None
Status report
Pysyk will replace Brown alongside Yandle and play his first game of the season. … Carolina will use the same lineup for the fourth time in as many games.
Stat pack
Carolina had more than 40 shots on goal in two of its three games, with 43 against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday and 44 against Tampa Bay. … The Hurricanes have gone past regulation in each of their three wins, defeating the Canadiens in a shootout and the Washington Capitals and Lightning in overtime. … Brind'Amour has a 49-29-7 record through 85 games as Hurricanes coach; the Carolina/Hartford record for fewest games needed to reach 50 victories is 96, set by Peter Laviolette. … Ekblad has led the Panthers in ice time each of their first two games, with 23:50 on Thursday and 25:44 on Saturday.