Patches Power:Max Pacioretty scored his third goal in two games on Tuesday, his first in front of the home crowd as a member of the Canes. After scoring twice on Saturday in Columbus, Pacioretty has found ways to fill the back of the net through just three total games with the team.
'Zilla Time?:Out of the lineup since November 6 due to a lower-body injury, Frederik Andersen made the trip to Columbus with the Canes for this game. He's been practicing with the unit for over a month, but Rod Brind'Amour has said on several occasions that he won't play until the netminder says he feels 100%. Now that he's traveling for his first road game since the injury, the team's head coach said, "anything is possible, we're certainly ramping him up," when asked if #31 could start Thursday.
No Morning Skate:With the above being said, the Canes will not hold a morning skate Thursday. Any information on tonight's lineup will come when Rod Brind'Amour meets with the media just prior to 5 p.m.
The Best Leading The Best:The NHL announced the coaches for this year's All-Star Game on Wednesday,
naming Rod Brind'Amour as the leader of the Metropolitan Division for a second consecutive year
. Guiding the Canes to a record of 25-9-7, Brind'Amour will have at least one member of his roster, Andrei Svechnikov, with him for the event in Sunrise, FL on February 3-4.
On The Other Side:A season riddled with injuries for the Blue Jackets has left them at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings thus far. Patrik Laine, Zach Werenski, Jakub Voracek, Jake Bean, Adam Boqvist, and several others have all missed time thus far this year, currently giving them the third-fewest goals for (102) and a share of the second-most goals against (127) in the NHL. Their power play also ranks 28th out of all 32 teams. They are 2-8-0 in their last 10 games.
