Gameday 17 - Hurricanes

Pittsburgh Penguins (10-3-3) @ Carolina Hurricanes (5-8-3)

7:00 pm/et

TV: ROOT

RBC Center, Raleigh, NC

We still love that arena picture. The Pens head down to Raleigh today for the second of a back-to-back after having five days off. Isn't NHL scheduling the best? There should be a decent pro-Pens crowd in the RBC Center tonight including our very own Tony. Hopefully they get some good pictures.

Eric Staal has five points and is a -16 in 16 games this year. See what knocking out your own brother does to your game?

It looks like Eric is determined to regain his title as the best Staal in the NHL and he will stop at nothing in order to do so. Watch out Jordan!

Season Series: 0-0-0

Last meeting that counted: February 25, 2011. Hurricanes won 4-1.

What we said in our recap:

Like we're recapping this.

Know Your Enemy: Canes Country

What they're saying:

The New York Rangers busted open a close 1-1 game midway through the third period by scoring four consecutive goals, and went on to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes, 5 -1 on Friday night. It was the fourth straight loss for the Canes and the sixth consecutive win for the Rangers.

This was not the first time the Hurricanes had a third period meltdown as the team has allowed more goals against them in the third period than any other team in the NHL.
 

Pittsburgh Penguins Notes: We'll see Brent Johnson in goal. It doesn't look like Kennedy will play tonight. It's about time someone wrote about Sidney Crosby.	Carolina Hurricanes Notes: The Canes lost 5-1 to the Rangers yesterday. More on the recent rash of Staal-on-Staal violence. Cam Ward played yesterday, so it looks like Brian Boucher will be in net. Brian Boucher is on the Hurricanes??? Nope. It seems like Ward will play back-to-back.

 

Favorite Hurricanes Image, Photoshop, Gif or Video:

Gotta go with a classic.

Pittsburgh Penguins lines from Empty Netters:

Steve Sullivan - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Chris Kunitz - Jordan Staal - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Richard Park - Arron Asham
Eric Tangradi - Craig Adams - Joe Vitale

Paul Martin - Kris Letang
Brooks Orpik - Deryk Engelland
Alexandre Picard - Matt Niskanen

Brent Johnson

Carolina Hurricanes lines from Empty Netters:

Alexei Ponikarovsky - Eric Staal - Zach Boychuk
Jeff Skinner - Jussi Jokinen - Tuomo Ruutu
Patrick Dwyer - Brett Sutter - Chad LaRose
Anthony Stewart - Tim Brent - Jiri Tlusty

Bryan Allen - Tim Gleason
Tomas Kaberle - Jay Harrison
Joni Pitkanen - Jamie McBain

Brian Boucher

Alexei Ponikarovsky is on the Hurricanes???

The Pittsburgh Penguins are playing some of their best hockey right now. The Carolina Hurricanes have lost their last four games, five of their last six and eight of their last ten. There are two back-up goaltenders in the nets. It's a road game but we expect to see and hear a pretty decent Penguins contingent in the crowd. If there was ever a night where the Penguins need to focus and not allow a team to catch them by surprise, it's tonight. The Pens need to beat up on a struggling team tonight and not fall into a trap that could cause them to lose a game that they should win. James Neal has 11 goals, one fewer than Phil Kessel.

Do It.

Go Pens.