Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the Toronto Maple Leafs (21-18-5, 47 points) and Carolina Hurricanes (18-16-9, 45 points) faceoff live from the PNC Arena in North Carolina for the third and final time this season. 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.
Carolina enters play on a four-game winning streak while Toronto is on a two-game skid after winning the 2014 Winter Classic in Michigan on New Year's Day.
The Maple Leafs are coming off of back-to-back losses at the hands of the New York Rangers and New York Islanders and will look to bounce back by finding some tenacity.
"We've got to get a lot more aggressive," coach Randy Carlyle said via the Toronto Star, "to be the tenacious Toronto Maple Leafs that I expect."
The Hurricanes were rolling but had no chance to keep their momentum going Tuesday night when their game against the Buffalo Sabres was postponed due to inclement weather, leading to the Canes having an unscheduled off day.
"We just told our [players], 'Hey, there are so many things that go on in a season as pro athletes and you've always got to keep your focus,'" coach Kirk Muller told the Raleigh Observer. "You're always being challenged."
Hurricanes leading scorer Eric Staal (10-25-35) may be sidelined with a lower-body injury. With Staal sidelined, Jeff Skinner paces the team with 33 points off of 20 goals and 13 assists and is on a five-game point streak while Andrej Sekera has lit the lamp seven times and added 17 helpers for 24 points.
Phil Kessel leads the Maple Leafs with 38 points off of 20 tallies and 18 assists while James van Riemsdyk has 15 markers and 16 helpers for 31 points and Mason Raymond has found the back of the net 12 times and added 15 assists for 27 points.
In between the pipes, Jonathan Bernier is likely to start for Toronto, and he's 13-13-4 with a 2.58 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage while with Cam Ward (lower-body) injured, Anton Khudobin may man the crease for Carolina and he's 5-0-0 with a 1.99 GAA and a .940 save percentage.
The Maple Leafs will hope to snap a two-game skid while The Hurricanes will look for their fifth straight win when puck drops tonight at the PNC Arena in North Carolina.
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