Goaltender Frederik Andersen is set to aim for a fifth consecutive victory as the Carolina Hurricanes face off against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Andersen has had an impressive run in March, recording a 4-1 performance and conceding two goals or fewer in all five games. His career record against Pacific Division teams stands at 78-26-16 with a .927 save percentage over 128 games.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour confirmed that Andrei Svechnikov will miss his sixth game due to an upper-body injury. Although there was hope for his return this weekend, it will not be today. Shayne Gostisbehere (illness), Seth Jarvis (undisclosed injury), and Jordan Staal (upper-body injury) are expected to participate in warmups, after which their ability to play will be assessed.
The betting odds for tonight’s game have been set by Fanatics Sportsbook with the Hurricanes favored at -225.
Projected lineups show Jarvis*, Aho, Blake; Hall, Kotkaniemi, Roslovic; Martinook, Jankowski, Robinson; Jost, Jaaska, and Stankoven as forwards. The defense includes Slavin and Burns; Orlov and Chatfield; Gostisbehere* and Walker with Morrow also listed. Andersen is expected to start as goaltender with Kochetkov as backup.
Current injuries include William Carrier who is out “a couple of months” since January 24 due to a lower-body injury, Jesper Fast who is out for the season because of a neck issue, Shayne Gostisbehere with no timetable since March 22 due to illness, Jordan Staal also without a timetable from March 22 because of an upper-body injury, and Andrei Svechnikov possibly available next week as mentioned on March 14.
The team will finalize decisions on scratches before the game starts at Anaheim tonight at 8:00 p.m.
