Hurricanes @ Canucks

Who will WIN this matchup?

Carolina Hurricanes (19-11-1)

@ Vancouver Canucks (15-12-4)

Starting Goalies:

Petr Mrazek (CAR): Likely

Jacob Markstrom (VAN): Unconfirmed

Current odds:

Carolina Hurricanes: (-120)

Vancouver Canucks: (+100)

• After blowing a three-goal lead but winning the opener of their five-game road trip, the Carolina Hurricanes hope for a better 60-minute effort Thursday when they visit the Vancouver Canucks. Carolina saw a 3-0 first-period advantage dwindle away Tuesday against the Oilers, but scored three unanswered goals in the third period to pull away for a 6-3 victory. Ryan Dzingel’s scored his sixth of the season with four seconds remaining in the first to put Carolina up by three before the tides turned and the Oilers pulled even by scoring three straight goals. “I don’t think we played that good in the first,” Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook told reporters after scoring the game-winning goal. “If we don’t come out 3-0, then it’s a different game I think. Sometimes you just have to take those ones and move on.”

• The Canucks have split the first four contests of their five-game homestand after a hard-luck 4-1 setback to the Maple Leafs on Tuesday that saw Vancouver outshoot the visitors 39-26. “One of our better games overall for the year to be honest,” Canucks captain Bo Horvat told the media. “I felt like we were consistent and in a lot of games we kind of lull and tonight we finished strong. Nine times out of 10, you come out with a win there.”

• Carolina owns the league’s second-best penalty kill after holding Edmonton, the league’s top power play, to a 1-for-5 performance on the man advantage. The first of Sebastian Aho’s two goals against the Oilers gave the 22-year-old 100 for his career – the youngest player in Hurricanes history to hit the milestone. Dougie Hamilton scored his 11th of the season Tuesday which placed him in a tie with Washington’s John Carlson for the most goals in the league by a defenseman.

• Right winger Brock Boeser peppered a season-high eight shots into Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen on Tuesday but was held without a goal for the seventh time in eight games. “At least I’m getting the chances,” Boeser told the media. “I haven’t been playing my best of late and I really wanted to make this a statement game.” Left winger Josh Leivo finished with a season-low minus-3 rating but scored Vancouver’s goal Tuesday while playing against his former team – his seventh of the season and fifth in his last five games.

• Carolina has one win in its last 11 trips to Vancouver.

• Vancouver LW Micheal Ferland left in the second period Tuesday and did not return in his second game after missing 17 with a concussion,

• Aho has five goals in his last two games and is tied with Boston’s Brad Marchand for eighth in the NHL with a team-best 18 on the season.