Red Wings at Hurricanes preview

RED WINGS (14-16-5) at HURRICANES (14-13-5)
7 p.m. ET; FS-D, FS-CR, NHL.TV

Staal (concussion), McElhinney (lower body) and Ferland (upper body) all took part in practice during Carolina's three-day break in the schedule. Staal was activated from injured reserve Thursday, and coach Rod Brind'Amour hopes that at least two of the three will be able to play.
The Hurricanes are 2-4-2 in their past eight games.
Forward Dylan Larkin will try to extend his eight-game point streak (four goals, seven assists) for the Red Wings, who are 0-3-1 in their past four games and 2-5-2 in their past nine.

Players to watch

Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in his past 12 games.
Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho has five goals and three assists during a five-game point streak.

They said it

"The two times that we've played them, they've had us hemmed in in our own end way too much. It's been an issue we've had with other teams as well. They come at you hard. If you can't get pucks behind them and take advantage of the rushes you can potentially get, then it can be a hard night." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill
"(The Red Wings) are playing really well. They have that dynamic element with a couple of their players who are top-notch and can go end-to-end and, all of a sudden, change the game. You can't ever take a rest against those guys." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour

Red Wings projected lineup

Justin Abdelkader -- Dylan Larkin -- Gustav Nyquist
Thomas Vanek -- Frans Nielsen -- Andreas Athanasiou
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Luke Glendening -- Michael Rasmussen
Christoffer Ehn -- Jacob de la Rose -- Martin Frk
Niklas Kronwall -- Nick Jensen
Dennis Cholowski -- Trevor Daley
Jonathan Ericsson -- Filip Hronek
Jonathan Bernier
Jimmy Howard
Scratched:Wade Megan, Luke Witkowski
Injured:Evgeny Svechnikov (knee surgery), Darren Helm (upper body), Anthony Mantha (hand), Danny DeKeyser (hand), Mike Green (lower body)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Jordan Martinook -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Micheal Ferland -- Victor Rask -- Brock McGinn
Andrei Svechnikov -- Jordan Staal -- Justin Williams
Warren Foegele -- Lucas Wallmark -- Phillip Di Giuseppe
Jaccob Slavin -- Brett Pesce
Calvin de Haan -- Justin Faulk
Trevor van Riemsdyk -- Dougie Hamilton
Petr Mrazek
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched:Clark Bishop
Injured:Haydn Fleury (concussion)

Status report

The Red Wings held an optional morning skate. Howard, who was scratched from Detroit's 3-2 loss at the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday because of back spasms, will back up Bernier. … The Hurricanes did not hold a morning skate. Carolina recalled Bishop from Charlotte of the American Hockey League on Wednesday as insurance in case , an indication that Staal may be a game-time decision.

Stat pack

Rookies Cholowski and Rasmussen each has three power-play goals to lead the Red Wings. Vanek has 39 points (18 goals, 21 assists) in 38 games against Carolina. .... Williams has five points (three goals, two assists) during a five-game point streak. The Hurricanes are 0-9-2 when trailing after two periods.