HURRICANES (28-23-10) at MAPLE LEAFS (20-28-10)
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET; FS-SE, SNO, NHL.TV
Season series: Joffrey Lupul's goal in the fifth round of the shootout gave the Toronto Maple Leafs a 2-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Feb. 20. Goalie James Reimer made 33 saves for Toronto and Cam Ward had 24 for Carolina. Backup goaltender Eddie Lack made 31 saves for his first shutout with the Hurricanes and Jordan Staal scored at 2:54 of overtime for a 1-0 win at Air Canada Centre on Jan. 21. Reimer made 39 saves, including 14 in the third period.
Hurricanes team scope: Coach Bill Peters rearranged his lines at practice Wednesday. He moved third-line center Victor Rask to the top line while shifting center Eric Staal to left wing. Right wing Riley Nash moved up to the third line with Jeff Skinner and Kris Versteeg, with Jay McClement between Chris Terry and Phillip Di Giuseppe on the fourth line. "It looked like it got stale a little bit," Peters told the Hurricanes website. "I'm not saying that's what we'll go with but I at least wanted to practice with them in case we do go with that." Defenseman Justin Faulk practiced one day after returning from a lower-body injury that kept him out six games. "It's a good sign that he was able to skate back-to-back days," Peters said. Defenseman Brett Pesce (maintenance) did not practice. The Hurricanes have not lost consecutive games in regulation since losing three straight Nov. 27-Dec. 3.
Maple Leafs team scope: Toronto, tied for 30th in the NHL with 50 points, has lost four straight and seven of its past eight. "It's not too hard to figure out what the standings are," coach Mike Babcock told the Maple Leafs website. "We live with that every day." Jonathan Bernier will start in goal. Injured players Tyler Bozak (concussion), Milan Michalek (finger) and Matt Hunwick (lower body) skated before practice but will not play. The Maple Leafs had two rookies on defense (Stuart Percy, Viktor Loov) in a 3-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday; all six defensemen were 25 years old or younger. "If you think that I'm not trying to get these guys to play as hard as they can possibly play, you're missing the boat," Babcock said. "They give me a group and I do everything I can to help that team win. We go through how are we going to win [Thursday]."
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