Newcomers fitting in as Hurricanes face Blackhawks

The Carolina Hurricanes will be back in Raleigh, N.C., for a game Thursday night with a different look from when they last played on home ice.

The Hurricanes made a massive trade late last week and they'll be showing off new pieces when the Chicago Blackhawks visit.

The Hurricanes also are riding a six-game points streak, with the most recent success coming with Tuesday night's 4-0 road victory against the New York Rangers.

Carolina's newcomers are forwards Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall. For Hall, it will be a reunion with his former team as he had been playing with the Blackhawks.

Rantanen arrived from the Colorado Avalanche. The three-way deal sent forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury from the Hurricanes to Colorado.

Rantanen and Hall registered assists in their second game with the Hurricanes in what coach Rod Brind'Amour called "really encouraging" when assessing the possibilities for the duo.

"(Hall) was obviously instrumental in the first goal but every shift he was doing things, hanging onto pucks, and making good plays," Brind'Amour said.

The Blackhawks ended a three-game losing streak with Tuesday night's 4-1 victory at Tampa Bay. The Blackhawks will be seeking their first back-to-back wins since a three-game winning streak Dec. 15-19.

The game vs. the Lightning came just four days after Chicago lost to Tampa Bay. The matchup with Carolina is also a rematch from last week -- the Hurricanes won 4-3 in overtime.

"When you play a team (so frequently) like that, it's motivation to get a win when they beat you," Blackhawks center Connor Bedard said.

Even though Frederik Andersen notched a shutout Tuesday in New York, the goalie rotation for Carolina likely means that Pyotr Kochetkov will be in the nets unless the Hurricanes opt to increase Andersen's workload as he continues to excel coming off an injury.

Either way, the Hurricanes have been relying on penalty killing throughout much of the season. They have a league-leading 34 games without allowing a power-play goal.

"We pride ourselves in a good penalty kill," Andersen said.

There's also defenseman Riley Stillman who could be in action for Carolina. He played his first game with the Hurricanes on Tuesday. There's familiarity with Carolina fans because he's wearing the same No. 61 that his father, Cory Stillman, wore 19 years ago when the organization won the Stanley Cup.

Chicago's goalies include former Carolina netminder Petr Mrazek. He was in the nets when the Hurricanes beat the Blackhawks in overtime last week on Sebastian Aho's goal.

The Blackhawks, playing under interim coach Anders Sorensen, led that first matchup this season by 2-0 after the first period but couldn't hold on. Phillip Kurashev had a goal and an assist and Hall had an assist for the Blackhawks.

Thursday's game also marks the return to Raleigh of forward Teuvo Teravainen, who had been a staple in the Hurricanes' lineup for eight seasons until an offseason move. Teravainen, who's in his second stint with Chicago, has notched 11 goals and 23 assists this season. That included an empty-net goal Tuesday.

The Hurricanes have secured at least one point in their last six home games.

--Field Level Media