RALEIGH, N.C. - The prep work is complete and the Carolina Hurricanes are ready for their first real task.
Taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday for Opening Night presented by Lenovo, the team is expected to utilize the same cast of 18 skaters that they've shown in practice this week.
Jack Roslovic appears poised to be the man starting the season alongside Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis, while Jesperi Kotkaniemi gets the center spot between talented wingers Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov.
The returning Shayne Gostisbehere is set to pair with the newcomer Sean Walker, allowing Dmitry Orlov and Jalen Chatfield to continue the chemistry they built last season.
Want to know who starts in goal though? Too bad.
Rod Brind'Amour shared at this morning's media availability that he would not be naming a starting goaltender, and doesn't plan to do so this season.
"You guys can just wait like everybody else... It's the same question for 82 games, I can just avoid it right now," the head coach said.
Brind'Amour acknowledged that the plan was to use one of either Frederik Andersen or Pyotr Kochetkov tonight and the other for tomorrow's game in Tampa, but since Saturday's game is postponed, they obviously can't use that approach now.
Andersen, entering his fourth season as a member of the team, has totaled a record of 69-27-4 with a 2.22 goals against average and a .918 save percentage in a Canes sweater. Of all NHL goalies who have played at least 100 games over the last three seasons, "Zilla" and his .918 save percentage rank fourth, trailing only Linus Ullmark (.924), Igor Shesterkin (.922), and Ilya Sorokin (.919).
The 35-year-old was particularly sharp in Carolina's exhibition finale last Saturday in Nashville, turning away 29 of 31 shots faced over 40 minutes of work.
Kochetkov was named to the NHL's All-Rookie team in June after going 23-13-4 in a team-leading 42 games last season.
Appearing in two preseason games, Kochetkov was the winning goaltender against Tampa Bay in both. In the team's first exhibition game at Amalie Arena, "PK" stopped 22/23 and on October 4, at Lenovo Center, he stopped 16 out of 17.
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Tonight's Betting Odds
Odds at Time of Publishing, provided by Fanatics Sportsbook: Canes -135
To view more Fanatics Sportsbook betting lines, click here.
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Tonight's Projected Lineup...
Forwards
Jarvis - Aho - Roslovic
Svechnikov - Kotkaniemi - Necas
Martinook - Staal - Carrier
Robinson - Drury - Blake
Defense
Slavin - Burns
Gostisbehere - Walker
Orlov - Chatfield
Starting Goaltender
TBD
Injuries
Jesper Fast (Neck, Out For 2024-25 Season)
Brendan Lemieux (Undisclosed, Not Practicing)
Joakim Ryan (Undisclosed, Not Practicing)
Riley Stillman (Lower-Body, Practicing)
Scratches
N/A
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PP1: Aho, Jarvis, Necas, and Svechnikov with Gostisbehere
PP2: Blake, Drury, Kotkaniemi, and Roslovic with Burns
