The Carolina Hurricanes have returned home from their week-long Western Conference road trip to start a three-game homestand, beginning with the Boston Bruins.

The game is scheduled for 8:00 PM EDT.

On the State Fair road trip, the Hurricanes managed to come away from the five-game adventure with seven points after dropping only one regulation win. It was a great trip, considering the injuries that plagued them – having gone entirely without core players Jordan Staal and Taylor Hall, and later Mark Jankowski.

However, there is some good news since their return – in multiple aspects.

Hall was activated from the injured reserve, and is expected to play Tuesday, while Jankowski is anticipated to skate with the team in their next practice (though when he will return to game action is still unclear). Additionally, in an unexpected turn of events, the Hurricanes announced Sunday that Alexander Nikishin signed a one-year, $3M contract with the team. Nonetheless, head coach Rod Brind’Amour stated that he is unsure when Nikishin will start skating with the team.

Anyway, you can read all about the Hurricanes’ last game here!

Meanwhile, the Bruins have been having themselves one heck of a start to their season – sitting atop the Atlantic Division, just second in NHL standings, only one point behind the Hurricanes. Just in their past ten games, they are 7-2-1, riding a two-game winning streak, and an eight-game point streak.

In the Crease

With two days between the Hurricanes last game and next game, they could turn to Pyotr Kochetkov again following a strong performance that culminated into a 24-save shutout Saturday night against the St. Louis Blues. Nonetheless, I do imagine they will continue the alternating tandem, sending in Brandon Bussi.

This season, Bussi’s goals against average is 3.27, with a save percentage of .865.

As for the Bruins, nine of their 12 games have been backstopped by Jeremy Swayman, and with their own two-day break between games, there is no reason to believe he won’t take the crease against the Hurricanes.

This season, Swayman’s goals against average is 4.68, with a save percentage of .831.

Projected Carolina Hurricanes Lines

William Carrier – Sebastian Aho – Andrei Svechnikov

Taylor Hall – Logan Stankoven – Jackson Blake

Nikolaj Ehlers – Seth Jarvis – Jordan Martinook

Eric Robinson – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Nicolas Deslauriers

Defense

Jaccob Slavin – Jalen Chatfield

K’Andre Miller – Sean Walker

Shayne Gostisbehere – Juuso Valimaki

Goaltenders

Brandon Bussi / Pyotr Kochetkov

Projected Boston Bruins Lines

JJ Peterka – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak

Marat Khusnutdinov – Fraser Minten – Morgan Geekie

Casey Mittelstadt – Elias Lindholm – James Hagens

Tanner Jeannot – Matthew Poitras – Mark Kastelic

Defense

Hampus Lindholm – Charlie McAvoy

Nikita Zadorov – Will Borgen

Frederic Brunet – Mason Lohrei

Goaltenders

Jeremy Swayman / Michael DiPietro

Special Teams

Carolina Hurricanes power play: 25.5% (8th, up three spots from previous game) Carolina Hurricanes penalty kill: 83.7% (9th)

Boston Bruins power play: 22.2% (12th) Boston Bruins penalty kill: 78.6% (18th)

Hurricanes Game Notes

Monday, the Hurricanes announced that Skyler Brind’Amour had been reassigned to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves