Maple Leafs @ Hurricanes – Preview and Game Thread

The Toronto Maple Leafs (12-11-3) are in town to face the Carolina Hurricanes (16-7-2) for an Eastern Conference matchup on Thursday night at the Lenovo Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 P.M.

The Canes have been off since their 1-0 overtime win over Calgary on Sunday night.

The time off seemed to have helped out the team’s walking wounded as everyone (but Miller) was on the ice for practice on Wednesday, albeit Jaccob Slavin, who was wearing a yellow, no contact jersey. Miller reportedly had the day off and is expected to play Thursday.

Fred Andersen was back in the starter’s crease, which is certain to cause some concern throughout the Caniac Nation.

Andersen has lost five games in a row and is currently sporting a 5-6-2 record with a GAA of 3.07 and a SV% of .878.

Pyotr Kochetkov, who has been injured but has returned to the ice, has a record of 4-0-0 with a GAA of 1.70 and SV% of .926.

Brandon Bussi, who has held the fort very well lately and who is coming off a 15 save shutout, was sharing the net with Kochetkov in the last practice.

Bussi has a 7-1-0 record with a GAA of 2.11 and a SV% of .908.

It seems like Brind’Amour will want to get Andersen back into the mix but as of this writing there has been no official announcement of who will start in net.

Speaking of Bussi, the Canes recently put out an excellent article discussing his emergence for Carolina.

https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/after-the-storm-bussi-making-stops-starting-strong-in-raleigh

While this has been his first chance for NHL action this season, he posted excellent numbers while in the AHL. Bussi played in 111 games with a 63-31-13 record and eight shutouts. He has a career AHL SV% of .915 and GAA of 2.62.

Look for an official announcement on who will start in goal for Carolina in the comments but it looks like Andersen right now. (I will be out of pocket on Thursday and will not be able to update personally.)

While the Hurricanes have 34 points and percentage wise, sit at first in the Metropolitan, the Leafs have 27 points, good for sixth place in the Atlantic.

Both teams have won two games in a row.

The Leafs are led by William Nylander who has 32 points in 22 games. Tavares and Knies follow with 29 and 26 points respectively.

Stolarz is on the IR, so look for Joseph Woll to start in net. Woll has a 3-3-1 record with a GAA of 2.53 and SV% of .924.

The game is slated to be shown on FanDuel locally.