Tonight at 7 p.m. ET, the Toronto Maple Leafs (19-9-3, 41 points) and Carolina Hurricanes (8-19-3, 19 points) face-off in the first of three meetings this season live from the PNC Arena in North Carolina. The game can be live streamed here. Toronto fans can hear all of the action on TSN 1050 while Carolina fans can do the same on 99.9 The Fan.
Toronto is surging having won six straight games while Carolina has been the polar opposite, losing all of its last six matches. The Maple Leafs hold the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference while the Hurricanes have the least amount of points in the NHL entering tonight.
The Maple Leafs are coming off of a 6-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday that saw Phil Kessel notch two goals.
"I think we were opportunistic tonight," Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said afterward per NHL.com. "It was not one where we are going to say we'll bottle that and take it to the bank and say tomorrow we felt good about ourselves."
Kessel paces the Leafs with 34 points and ranks fourth in the league with 17 goals. James van Riemsdyk is second on the team with 28 points off of 13 tallies and 15 helpers while Tyler Bozak has found the twine 12 times and added 15 assists for 27 points.
The Hurricanes are coming off of a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens that saw Jeff Skinner notch the lone goal as the season continued to slip away.
"It's tough losing," forward Nathan Gerbe told NHL.com. "But you can't let it creep into the guys' heads that No. 1, it's acceptable and No. 2 that you can't try. I think this group gives a good effort. We'd like to win a lot more, that's for sure."
Justin Faulk has paced the Hurricanes with 17 points off of five goals and 12 assists while Eric Staal (seven markers, nine helpers) and Riley Nash (four goals, 12 assists) each have 16 points.
In net, Carolina is slated to turn to Cam Ward and he is 8-12-1 with a 2.54 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.
Toronto is expected to counter with Jonathan Bernier and he is 13-6-3 with a 2.53 GAA and a .922 save percentage.
The Hurricanes and Maple Leafs go head-to-head when the puck drops live tonight from the PNC Arena in North Carolina.
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