Preview: December 9 at Vancouver

VANCOUVER, B.C. - The Carolina Hurricanes' six-game road trip has reached its western-most destination, meeting the Vancouver Canucks for a matchup at Rogers Arena.

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When: Saturday, December 9

Puck Drop: 10 p.m. ET

Watch: Bally Sports South, Bally Sports App

Listen: 99.9 The Fan, Hurricanes App

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Canes Record: 14-11-1 (29 Points, T-3rd, Metropolitan Division)

Canes Last Game: 3-2 Loss to the Calgary Flames on Thursday, December 7

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Canucks Record: 17-9-1 (35 Points, T-2nd, Pacific Division)

Canucks Last Game: 2-0 Win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, December 7

Last Time Out

• After being embarrassed on Wednesday in Edmonton, it looked like the Canes were back on track Thursday against the Flames. Leading 2-0 after 40 minutes, the play looked a lot more Hurricanes-like. Pyotr Kochetkov was solid through two periods as well. Then, a third period collapse. Calgary scored three goals in 6:02, storming from behind to take the win. Post-game, Rod Brind'Amour and players alike were critical of the team "sitting back and watching" during the final period of regulation.

Net-Front Traffic

• Both of Carolina's first period goals on Thursday came on redirections.  Stefan Noesen tipped home a Jaccob Slavin shot to start the night, and then Michael Bunting changed the path of a Dmitry Orlov blast to put the team up two.  Look for the Canes to try and utilize more of that this evening.  They've had no problems getting pucks to the net this season, leading the league with their average of 34.6 per night, however, their average of 3.23 goals per game ranks tied for 15th.

1,200 For The Captain

• Forward Jordan Staal is set to play in his 1,200th NHL game this evening.  Acquired by the Canes on June 22, 2012, 768 of his games have come with the franchise after 431 with Pittsburgh to start his career.
• Selected second overall by the Penguins in the 2006 NHL Draft, he is set to join Phil Kessel (BOS/TOR/PIT/ARI/VGK: 1,286 GP) as the second player from his draft class to reach the milestone. Staal also looks to become the 10th active player to log 1,200 career NHL games, joining Brent Burns (1,359 GP) as the second Hurricanes skater on that list. 

In Net

• With Kochetkov having played on Thursday, if the team's rotation stays intact, Antti Raanta could be in line for the start this evening. Raanta played 54+ minutes in relief on Wednesday in Edmonton after Kochetkov was pulled early, stopping 25/28. On the season, Raanta is 6-4 and he has a .917 save percentage in three career appearances against the Canucks.

On The Other Side

• After starting the season 12-3-1, the Canucks have come back down to earth a bit, but are still playing strong hockey. J.T. Miller leads the Western Conference with 39 points in 27 games and Quinn Hughes leads all NHL defensemen with 36 points in the same amount of contests. Of all goalies that have played 15 games this season, Thatcher Demko's .917 save percentage ranks third. Where hasn't Vancouver excelled this season? If there's one area to point out, perhaps it's their penalty kill, which ranks 27th, killing off just 74.7% of attempts this season.

Injury Updates

• Goaltender Frederik Andersen is sidelined indefinitely after the team announced on November 6 that he is dealing with a blood clotting issue.
• Forward Andrei Svechnikov was a last-minute scratch on Thursday in Calgary and ruled out due to an upper-body injury.  No update was available post-game and the Canes did not practice Friday, so no new information has been offered.

What Are We Wearing?

• The team will be wearing their white sweaters tonight. A complete uniform schedule for the season can be found here.

What's Next After Tonight?

• The Canes team will fly to Ottawa on Sunday and practice on Monday. They'll then return to game action on Tuesday night against the Senators.

Worth A Click

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