Hurricanes at Sharks preview
Carolina aims for best eight-game start in its history; San Jose eyes third straight win
by Ross McKeon / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
HURRICANES (6-1-0) at SHARKS (2-4-0)
10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NBCSCA, FS-CR, NHL.TV
The Game
The Carolina Hurricanes can put together the best eight-game start in their history when they visit the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Wednesday.
Carolina has won six of its first seven games. The Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers never have begun a season 7-1-0.
Goalie James Reimer is expected to start the second half of a back to back after Petr Mrazek made 31 saves in Carolina's 2-0 win at the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.
The Sharks seek their third consecutive victory after an 0-4-0 start.
Goalie Martin Jones will try to win his second straight start for San Jose; he made 32 saves in a 3-1 win against the Calgary Flames on Sunday after three consecutive losses to open the season.
Players to watch
Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen has seven points (two goals, five assists) in seven games, with points in six of them.
Sharks center Logan Couture has five points (one goal, four assists) during a four-game point streak.
They said it
"I still feel like we're not quite there yet, where we want to as far as the team and how we play. Again, we had some good and some not so good, but finding ways to win early is great." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour
"Just look at the analytics. They're No. 1 in the League creating scoring chances off the rush and in the top two in the League creating offense in the zone too. … They have maybe the best defense corps in the League one through six and they've been getting great goaltending." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on the Hurricanes
Hurricanes projected lineup
Andrei Svechnikov -- Jordan Staal -- Brock McGinn
Nino Niederreiter -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Ryan Dzingel -- Erik Haula -- Martin Necas
Warren Foegele -- Lucas Wallmark -- Brian Gibbons
Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton
Joel Edmundson -- Brett Pesce
Jake Gardiner -- Hadyn Fleury
James Reimer
Petr Mrazek
Scratched: Trevor van Riemsdyk
Injured: Jordan Martinook (core muscle)
Sharks projected lineup
Timo Meier -- Logan Couture -- Patrick Marleau
Evander Kane -- Tomas Hertl -- Kevin Labanc
Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Barclay Goodrow
Melker Karlsson -- Dylan Gambrell -- Lukas Radil
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon -- Erik Karlsson
Mario Ferraro -- Tim Heed
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched: Trevor Carrick, Danil Yurtaykin, Lean Bergmann
Injured: Jacob Middleton (left shoulder), Dalton Prout (upper body), Radim Simek (knee)
Status report
Carolina did not hold a morning skate. … Van Riemsdyk is day to day. … Sorensen will return after missing three games. … Prout and Simek are skating but not practicing.
Stat pack
Svechnikov has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in his past six games. … Hamilton has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past five games. … Aho needs one point for 200 in the NHL. … The Sharks are 71-44-13 (.605) against Eastern Conference opponents since the start of the 2015-16 season. … Kane has 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) in 30 games against Carolina. … Meier will play his 200th NHL game.