Anaheim Ducks vs. Carolina Hurricanes: Puck Drop

James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

The Anaheim Ducks host the Carolina Hurricanes at Honda Center tonight March 2nd. The game starts at 5pm.

The NHL leading Ducks with a record of 42-14-5 for 89 points, look to continue their winning ways against the Hurricanes after beating the Blues 1-0 on Friday night. Federik Andersen will start in net for the Ducks. With a 15-3-0 record, Federik Andersen boasts a .929 save percentage and averages 2.12 goals per game against him. Captain, Ryan Getzlaf leads the team with 29 goals for 67 points. Corey Perry has 30 goals for a total of 60 points. Getzlaf ranks second in league scoring and has nine goals for 20 points in his last 17 games. Perry boasts 30 goals in 61 games this season with five goals for 11 points in his last 13 contests. Nick Bonino was back in the lineup on Friday and will play again tonight. Bonino is third in scoring for the Ducks with 16 goals for 40 points. Andrew Cogliano is fourth in scoring, 18 goals for 32 points. Cogliano had the only goal and game winner against the Blues on Friday. The Ducks will be without Matthieu Perreault, who suffered an upper body injury in the last contest against the Blues. Bruce Boudreau said Perreault is day-to-day and hopes he will play Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens. The Ducks did sign Tim Jackman to a one year contract extension. Ducks fans have mixed reviews on the contract extension, but Jackman brings some size to the Ducks’ lineup, which will help for the stretch run to the playoffs.

The Hurricanes enter tonight’s matchup with a record of 26-25-9 for 61 points and are looking to gain some traction as they continue their “Tour of California”. The Hurricanes are struggling and have gone 4-6 in their last 10 games. With a 6-9-5 record, Cam Ward will start in net. Ward has a .891 save percentage and averages 3.23 goals per game against him. Eric Staal leads the team with 16 goals for 47 points. The other leading scorers are Jeff Skinner, 23 goals for 40 points, Andrej Sekera, 10 goals for 35 points, and Alexander Semin, 15 goals for 30 points. Skinner leads the team with six game winning goals. Tuomo Ruutu leads the team with 163 hits. Ruutu also has 34 penalty minutes. Defenseman John-Michael Liles leads the defense skating with a +6. Defenseman Jay Harrison is second with a +5 rating. Liles, Harrison, and the rest of the Hurricane defense will have to be on their game to stop the Ducks high power offense.

The Hurricanes are not playing well, but can still be dangerous. The Ducks need to maintain possession early and keep the pressure on the Hurricanes. This is the second of back to back games for the Hurricanes who played last night and lost to the Los Angeles Kings. Let’s go Ducks!

The Ducks will be honoring their players that went to Sochi by giving out an Olympic print tonight!

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