Offtopic » The Hurricanes claimed McElhinney

DETROIT — The Ottawa Senators will likely have left winger Bobby Ryan back when they face the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night.Ryan Vladislav Namestnikov Jersey , 31, who has six goals and 18 points in 29 games, has missed three games with a concussion.“It’s a concussion thing, so the minute he’s cleared (he’ll play), and he’s doing really good,” Senators coach Guy Boucher told the Ottawa Sun after the team arrived in Detroit on Wednesday. “So if his baseline is clear, then that’s a clear one and, hopefully Bobby Ryan Jersey , we get good news from that.Article continues below ...“Of course, that’s what I’m hoping. But what I’m hoping and what’s reality is often not the same. From what I hear, things are going good, I just have to wait to see now if they have taken the last step.”Ottawa (13-15-4) is also without veteran forwards Matt Duchene and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and defensemen Mark Borowiecki and Dylan DeMelo because of injuries.“Whenever you get guys like that back, it also gives the young guys a bit more breathing room because they don’t feel the pressure is on them,” Boucher said. “It’s a fine line between giving them ice and responsibilities. Sometimes they have too much.“You’ve got to navigate it, but it’s hard to do when you’ve got that many guys injured; it’s actually impossible to do when you have that many guys injured http://www.officialsenators.com/authentic-adidas-chris-wideman-jersey , and that’s where we’re at. When you get guys back who can sustain what you’re doing, it’s hard for the opponent and it’s easier for you. It’s a double effect.”The Red Wings (14-14-4) have been struggling on the power play. They have converted only 2-of-31 power plays in their past 14 games, which is a big dip from their first 18 games (13-of-54).“The one hard thing about our power play is we don’t get very many of them, so then it’s hard to get any kind of rhythm,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill told www.mlive.com.He tried using centers Dylan Larkin and Frans Nielsen on the same unit in Tuesday night’s 6-2 road loss to the Washington Capitals.“Moving Larks (Larkin) into that bumper spot and moving (Andreas Athanasiou) to the half-wall spot, where it’s more run through him as opposed to running the other side and being a one-timer, we’re hoping to get some chemistry going.” Blashill said.The Red Wings have had only one power play in each of their past two games and 85 for the season. They had 106 through 32 games in 2017-18.“We’ve been in a lot of games where there hasn’t been a whole lot called,” Blashill said. “Since the beginning of the year Craig Anderson Jersey , when we were leading the league in power plays given up, we’ve been in lots of games after that where there hasn’t been much called either way. Do I sense it’s relaxing? I don’t know. I think every game takes a life of its own. I can’t say sit there and say a bunch of games they’ve missed lots of calls on either side. They generally do a real good job. Maybe it’s just the way the game has been.”Defensemen Mike Green and Jonathan Ericsson didn’t practice Thursday. Blashill said they are both banged up and questionable for Friday night. Detroit is carrying two extra defensemen, Luke Witkowski and Brian Lashoff. RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes are in what seems like a rare position this week.They’re coming off a victory.It needs to become a habit.Article continues below ...“Winning is a lot more fun, isn’t it?” Hurricanes captain Justin Williams said. “We need to start something rolling here. We need to get it going soon.”The next opportunity for that comes against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night at PNC Arena.The Maple Leafs have developed that winning feeling with a four-game winning streak that includes Monday night’s 4-2 comeback victory against the St. Louis Blues.“It was a four-line win and those are important,” Maple Leafs left winger Zach Hyman said.The Hurricanes haven’t been as consistent during the past few weeks, winning three of their last 10 games (3-5-2).Yet in an uneven performance Sunday against the New Jersey Devils, they came out on top. That was largely due to two goals in the opening 30 seconds.Carolina is 6-2-0 when scoring first.“We haven’t gotten the first goal as much as we would like this season Authentic Erik Karlsson Jersey Kids ,” center Jordan Staal said, noting the difference in that outing. “It wasn’t our best game, but I felt like we worked hard.”What the Hurricanes are counting on is that 2-1 result being a springboard to a stretch of better outcomes.“It’s good for us to play some close games like that to have some confidence later in the season,” Williams said.That’s something that Maple Leafs have latched on to.They’ve learned that that persistence can pay off.“Our team never gives up and that’s something special,” said Toronto right winger Mitch Marner. “This team shows no quit. That’s something that we need to keep going forward.”This marks the first meeting of the season between the Maple Leafs and Hurricanes.It could involve Carolina goalie Curtis McElhinney against his former team. McElhinney had gone through a long stretch of inactivity until posting his team-leading fourth victory Sunday.“You want to get back in there and feel the rhythm,” McElhinney said. “When you get an opportunity, you want to show you’re more than capable to help this team get wins.”The Hurricanes claimed McElhinney off waivers from the Maple Leafs right before the start of the regular season.Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said the matchup with Toronto comes with an obvious connection.“He wants to play every night,” Brind’Amour said while being cautious in committing to giving McElhinney this assignment.McElhinney has been used just twice since Oct. 20.Meanwhile Jean-Gabriel Pageau Jersey , the Maple Leafs count on goalie Frederik Andersen.“He has been the MVP of this team,” said Marner, who has a team-high 28 points. “He expects himself to be the best every night. … He hasn’t been anything short of that.”Toronto center John Tavares has four of his team-best 13 goals in the last five games.The Hurricanes are led by Micheal Ferland’s 10 goals.This marks the fifth game in a six-game homestand for Carolina. The Maple Leafs will return to Raleigh on Dec. 11.