Chicago Blackhawks (5-1-2) at Carolina Hurricanes (3-3-3)
RBC Center, 7 p.m.
TV: CSN-Chicago, FS-Carolinas

Carolina has gone from winning three games in a row to losing three straight but thankfully, we live in the new NHL where we can say "hey at least we earned two points in those two losses!" How many of those points are deserved is another debate. The team's last game against Ottawa where they lost in a shootout could go down as one that "neither team deserved to win" because both teams had stretches of awful play but took control at other times. You have to give credit to the Canes for giving a great effort to tie the game and controlling the OT period but that ultimately wasn't good enough. However, I think we can say that the Canes at least earned the one point they got in that game. Now we can just hope they show up for the entire game this time because they are taking on, in my opinion, the best team in the Western Conference.

Lines, analysis and game notes after the jump

Ottawa Senators (3-5-0) at Carolina Hurricanes (3-3-2)
RBC Center, 7 p.m.
TV: FS - Carolinas, TSN

The road trip is finally over the Canes are back home at the RBC Center for a showdown with the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa was projected to be one of the worst teams in the league this year but they are coming off two strong wins while the Canes have lost two straight including an ugly 5-3 loss at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets. Carolina has also blown two consecutive 2-0 leads in those losses and it can be traced back to them not giving a full 60 minute effort. Whether it was due to them sitting on a lead or committing one stupid penalty after another, the team has had trouble with keeping leads this season and this Ottawa team's most recent win came in a last minute comeback. If the Canes gameplan is anything similar to the last two, then a repeat of that may occur. *knocks on wood*

Some notes for tonight's game is that Anthony Stewart will not play tonight and Zach Boychuk was recalled in his place. I don't know where Boychuk will be in the lineup but I'm hoping he will see more than fourth line minutes because that will do little to benefit the team. This team is struggling to find wingers on the first line and I think Boychuk deserves a shot there. I mean, what does the team got to lose at this point? Ruutu, Ponikarovsky, Skinner and LaRose all struggled there and Staal seemed to work well with Boychuk when he was up with the big club last year. It makes sense to give him another chance there. Also, it will be a good chance to see if Boychuk will ever be a top six winger on this team or not. We already have Brett Sutter on the team to play fourth line minutes, someone who can play those minutes in Tlusty and a two-way forward in LaRose who can take over on the third line. Let's give Boychuk a chance.

On the Senators side of things, they are going to be without Daniel Alfredsson and Petr Regin tonight. Making what is a pretty weak forward corps even more depleted. Kaspars Daugavins was recalled to take Alfredsson's place on the second line. He isn't one of Ottawa's best prospects but he did play for Team Latvia in the Olympics. I'm sure the announcers on whichever feed you watch the game on will remind you of that.

Lines and analysis after the jump

Carolina Hurricanes (3-3-2) at Winnipeg Jets (1-4-1)
MTS Centre, 7:00 p.m.
TV: CBC, FS-Carolinas
Opposing Viewpoints: Arctic Ice Hockey

Winnipeg has not been a good team this year but despite that, my confidence in the Hurricanes winning this game isn't too high right now. Why? Oh, it's no big reason. It's just that Carolina had an overtime game last night, were outplayed for over 40 minutes and had to travel 846 miles to get ready for another game in less than 24 hours. The last time Carolina had a back-to-back it was against Washington in the second game of the season and they managed to at least get a point out of it thanks to a strong powerplay. Tonight, they have a weaker opponent in the Winnipeg Jets but that doesn't mean the Canes should take them lightly. The Blues haven't exactly been a good team and look what happened when Carolina decided to ease up on them. If you're looking for a silver lining in yesterday's debacle, the Hurricanes have "earned" five points in their first three games on this road trip. I'm hoping we see a more full effort from Carolina tonight, especially at even strength where they've been getting shelled all year. Winnipeg actually hasn't been a terrible team when playing 5-on-5 this year (29.9 SF vs. 28.6 SA) but they haven't been scoring at all and their special teams are performing very poorly right now. With how Carolina's been playing lately, we may know what this game comes down to.

There isn't much news concerning tonight's game other than Brian Boucher will likely get the start in net for the Canes because Cam Ward had to face 42 shots in yesterday's game and it only makes sense to put the back-up in now.

More after the jump.

Carolina Hurricanes (2-2-1) vs. Boston Bruins (2-3-0)
TD Garden, 7:00 p.m.
TV: FS-Carolinas, NESN

After that dramatic win against Buffalo on Friday night, the Canes now head to Boston for a rematch of last week's game with the Bruins. Carolina managed to pick up their first win of the year in Wednesday's game and they did it through a solid defensive effort and strong penalty kill. Special teams have been a key for this team all season and in the Buffalo game, it was the only reason Carolina won. Some say that you live and die by special teams in the NHL but my personal opinion is that special teams are extremely variable and strong performances at even strength are what wins most game. This is why I am hoping for an effort similar to last week's game against Boston tonight. We may have shut down Boston's powerplay last game but we can't keep going shorthanded five times a game and expect to win. That's just the way things work in the NHL.

Other notes heading into tonight's game are that Zac Dalpe will be out week-to-week for Carolina and Brett Sutter was called up to take his place. Dalpe has boatloads of talent but he was playing around five minutes per night every game this year so him not being in the lineup will not mean much. All Sutter has to do is forecheck well and he should be an adequate replacement. Aside from Tim Brent, Paul Maurice hasn't really been using the fourth line that much but these three had a strong game against Boston last week so maybe it will happen again.

More after the jump

Carolina Hurricanes (1-2-1) at Buffalo Sabres (2-0-0)
First Niagara Center 7:30 p.m.
TV: FS Carolina, MSG - Buffalo

It feels good to get that first win behind us, doesn't it? The Canes are on the road again and their first stop is at the newly renovated First Niagara Center to take on the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo is coming off two strong showings in Europe to start the year and have had nearly a week to rest up for this game while the Canes played only two nights ago. What a strong showing it was for Carolina, though. They were able to outshoot Boston at even strength, strike on the powerplay and kill off all five of Boston's powerplays. In that lies a problem, though. The Canes have been shorthanded 11 times already this year (tied for sixth most in the NHL) and have committed 23 penalties (fifth most in the NHL). The penalty killing has not been terrible this season but this team has been taking penalties at the worst times and it has factored into them losing a couple games (see the 5-on-3's vs. Washington and Tampa). Buffalo's powerplay has a lot of weapons including newcomer Christian Ehrhoff so the Canes will hopefully learn to stay out of box for tonight's contest.

Lines, analysis and more after the jump

Boston Bruins (1-2-0) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (0-2-1)
RBC Center: 7:30
TV: Versus/NBC Sports
Opposing Viewpoints: Days of Y'orr

Still in search for win number one, the Canes return home to RBC Center to take on the Boston Bruins which will be their first nationally televised game of the season. Only three games into the season and there's already a lot of frustration among Canes fans with decision made by head coach Paul Maurice. It's understandable to be frustrated when you start off the year winless but let's keep in mind that it's only three games into the season and we should wait a little longer before we start to bring out the torches and pitchforks.

Some new surrounding this game is that the defense pairings will be shaken up a bit with Jamie McBain being inserted into the lineup. The powerplay struggled last game against the Devils and McBain can help us out in that area but it also means that Justin Faulk wil lbe sitting out tonight's game as a healthy scratch. Faulk has looked solid in his first three games so I do not think scratching him is the right call but Harrison being a better penalty killer makes him slightly more needed than Faulk at the moment. Either way, I hope this move pays off as McBain proved to be a solid puck-mover last season and should help out the team's blue line provide some offense.

Scouting the opponent, lineups and analysis after the jump

Carolina Hurricanes (0-1-1) @ New Jersey Devils (0-1-0)
Prudential Center, 1:00 p.m.
TV: FS-Carolinas, MSG
Opposing Viewpoints: In Lou We Trust, Running With The Devils

Something these two teams have learned in recent years is that getting off to bad starts can doom your playoff chances, especially in the Eastern Conference. Last year, the Devils had a miserable first half but found themselves fighting for the 8th seed in the latter half of the year where they had an incredible surge. Sounds a little familiar doesn't it. The Canes got off to an awful start in 2009-10 and while they weren't exactly in position to fight for a playoff spot, they really stepped it up after that terrible stretch. Both teams are in rebuild mode now and are searching for their first win in this very young season. Carolina managed to earn a point in Washington thanks to a strong powerplay, solid goaltending from Brian Boucher and a clutch goal from Jussi Jokinen while the Devils were shutout in their home opener by the Flyers in a game which a New Jersey fan described as "the worst game the Devils ever played." Yikes.

Anyway, this game has a pretty early start time and there's nothing better than matinee hockey so let's get things rolling.

Scouting and line combos after the jump.