Senators at Hurricanes preview

SENATORS (18-24-5) at HURRICANES (22-19-5)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, RDS2, TSN5, NHL.TV

The forward, acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Wild for center Victor Rask on Thursday, has 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) this season. He will play left wing on the third line with Greg McKegg and Justin Williams.
Carolina is 7-2-0 in its past nine games and has scored at least four goals in six of its past eight.
Goalie Anders Nilsson will make his fifth straight start for the Senators, 3-1-0 in their past four games following an eight-game losing streak (0-7-1). He has a 1.75 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage in his past four starts.

Players to watch

Senators center Matt Duchene has eight points (five goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak, and has scored at least one goal in four straight games.
Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho has six points (five goals, one assist) in his past three games.

They said it

"I don't feel this team is a last-place team in the [Eastern] Conference. Obviously there is a logjam. There's teams that are just ahead of us if we can climb a little bit here. We're playing good hockey and we want to keep it going. We believe in ourselves here." -- Senators center Matt Duchene
"It's definitely kind of emotional. You're opening up a new chapter. It's kind of nerve-wracking and I'm very excited about it. You want to do your best and make sure you have a good first impression and not put too much pressure on yourself." -- Hurricanes forward Nino Niederreiter on his first game with Carolina

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk -- Chris Tierney -- Mark Stone
Ryan Dzingel -- Matt Duchene -- Bobby Ryan
Rudolfs Balcers -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Mikkel Boedker
Magnus Paajarvi -- Zack Smith
Thomas Chabot -- Dylan DeMelo
Max Lajoie -- Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki -- Christian Jaros
Christian Wolanin
Anders Nilsson
Craig Anderson
Scratched:Ben Harpur
Injured: Justin Falk (upper body), Colin White (upper body)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Micheal Ferland -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov -- Lucas Wallmark -- Jordan Martinook
Nino Niederreiter -- Greg McKegg -- Justin Williams
Warren Foegele -- Saku Maenalanen -- Brock McGinn
Jaccob Slavin -- Brett Pesce
Calvin de Haan -- Justin Faulk
Trevor van Riemsdyk -- Dougie Hamilton
Petr Mrazek
Alex Nedeljkovic
Scratched: None
Injured:Jordan Staal (upper body), Curtis McElhinney (knee), Clark Bishop (lower body)

Status report

Ottawa is expected to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen. ... Anderson will back up Nilsson after missing 11 games with a concussion. … Goalie Marcus Hogberg was reassigned to Belleville of the American Hockey League on Thursday. … McElhinney's projected return is not known, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. … Nedeljkovic was recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League on Thursday.

Stat pack

Dzingel has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his past eight games. … Williams has five goals in his past six games.