Svech vs. Svech: It's finally time. For the first time in their NHL careers, the brothers Svechnikov are set to face off against one another. ACL surgery sidelined Evgeny for Andrei's rookie season in 2018-19. Evgeny then spent much of the 2019-20 season in the AHL, and though he logged four games with Detroit, he just missed a trip to Raleigh. The beginning of this season seemed promising, with the two teams facing off twice in Detroit, but Evgeny was left off the Red Wings' opening night roster. At long last, with Evgeny having tallied two points (1g, 1a) in his season debut on Feb. 27 and scoring another goal the next night, the showdown is set.
"Every day I go to sleep I start thinking about that. It's going to be so much fun if we play against each other. That's our dream," Andrei said in early January. "It's going to be lots of fun. Maybe I'll see him on the first shift and I'll try to hit him or do something, we'll see."
Homecoming: With half of the Canes' road schedule now complete, the team returns home for four straight. And, for the first time since Feb. 28, 2020, fans will be inside PNC Arena. It will only be 15% of capacity - around 2,900 fans - but it's another step forward toward normalcy, and it should be
a boost for a road-weary team
.
