Carolina Hurricanes vs. Columbus Blue Jackets: Lineups, Game Preview and How to Watch

What - Game 30 (18-10-1)
When - 5 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 15
Where - Lenovo Center; Raleigh, NC
How to Watch - FanDuel Sports Network South

The Carolina Hurricanes continue to look for consistency and will hope to find some tonight as they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets (12-13-4).

The Canes are coming off of a 3-0 shutout loss to Linus Ullmark and the Ottawa Senators on Friday, but to be fair, it was a game that looked a lot better than some of the previous ones.

The Hurricanes were much more defensively sound overall and generated chances, they were just stymied by a hot goaltender.

Regardless, the team needs to be clicking both defensively and offensively if they want to go on a run and put this bad stretch behind themselves.

The Blue Jackets are coming off of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks last night and they have now lost four of their last five.

Columbus is one of the highest scoring 5v5 teams in the league and they have quite a few guys that can burn you, especially with the way Zach Werenski has been playing.

However, the Blue Jackets have struggled a bit with preventing goals and their special teams have left a lot to be desired.

Streaks

• None

Milestone Watch

• Andrei Svechnikov is two assists shy of 200 career assists.

• Jaccob Slavin will pass Rod Brind'Amour (694) for sixth in franchise history for games played tonight.

• Sebastian Aho will pass Brett Pesce (627) for 10th in franchise history for games played tonight.

Game Notes

• Carolina is 0-0-1 against the Blue Jackets this season having lost 5-4 in a shootout on Nov. 23.

Key Matchups

Starting Goalies

• Pyotr Kochetkov: 12-5-0; 0.895 Sv%; 2.61 GAA

• Elvis Merzlikins: 9-8-2; 0.888 Sv%; 3.06 GAA

Leading Scorers

• Goals - Martin Necas (14) / Zach Werenski & Kirill Marchenko (10)

• Points - Martin Necas (43) / Zach Werenski (30)

Power Play

• Carolina - 27.7% (4th)

• Columbus - 18.4% (21st)

Penalty Kill

• Carolina - 84.4% (3rd)

• Columbus - 71.7% (28th)

Hurricanes Projected Lineup

Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Jack Roslovic
Eric Robinson - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - Seth Jarvis
William Carrier - Tyson Jost - Jackson Blake

Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burn
Dmitry Orlov - Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere - Sean Walker

Dustin Tokarski
Pyotr Kochetkov

Injuries and Scratches: Jack Drury (hand), Frederik Andersen (LBI), Jesper Fast (neck)

Blue Jackets Projected Lineup

James van Riemsdyk - Sean Monahan - Kent Johnson
Dmitri Voronkov - Adam Fantilli - Kirill Marchenko
Zach Aston-Reese - Cole Sillinger - Mathieu Olivier
Mikael Pyyhtia - Sean Kuraly - Kevin Labanc

Zach Werenski - Dante Fabbro
Ivan Provorov - Damon Severson
Jack Johnson - Jake Christiansen

Elvis Merzlikins
Jet Greaves

Injuries and Scratches: Daniil Tarasov, Jordan Harris, Yegor Chinakov (UBI), Justin Danforth (LBI), Erik Gudbranson (shoulder), Boone Jenner (shoulder)