Canes host Slugs

Tonight, the Hurricanes will host the Sabres for the second time this season. The opening night thriller resulted in a shootout loss for the Canes, and the Sabres have been on fire since then. They have lost just one regulation game and one shootout.

The Sabres are 9-0 on the road, but will be without the services of Maxim Afinogenov (upper body) and defenseman Henrik Tallinder, who re-broke his arm earlier this season. Of course Tim Connolly is still out, and has been placed on the long-term-injured list with concussion issues.

Carolina will still be without Cory Stillman and defenseman Frantisek Kaberle, who are both recovering from shoulder surgery. Defensemen Nic Wallin and Tim Gleason are also expected to sit this one out. With three top defensemen on the shelf, Carolina will be forced to start "Avi" Tanabe again. We don't expect any sympathy from the Sabres in that department, though.

The Canes, who have been drawing really well this season, averaging 95% capacity, face a challenge tonight. The game is not included in the wildly popular 24-game ticket package, so there will be significantly fewer season ticket holders there tonight. Add to that, the'll be competing with the Monday Night Football (Carolina Panthers hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) game in Charlotte. The stadiums (stadii?) are three hours apart, but both teams draw fans from all over the state.

Anyway, I'll make a ballsy prediction for tonight's game. Bear in mind, I'm 0-1 so far on those.

Ballsy prediction #2 of the season: Daniel Briere shut down.
Ballsy prediction #3 of the season: Scott Walker 2 goals, 1 assist

Oh. I'll be DVRing the hell out of this game, and will watch it in its entirety when I get home from work. So ix-nay on the exting-tay.