Carolina Hurricanes vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Preview, Lineups and Game Discussion

Hockey is back in Raleigh.

The Carolina Hurricanes open up their four-game preseason slate Tuesday night in PNC Arena, playing host to the team that knocked them out of last year’s postseason, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“It’s the first game,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We can get a feel now for certain players and what they are picking up. We’ve got to get going.”

It’ll be the Canes’ first true preseason game in almost two years, as the last time Carolina played in the preseason was back on Sept. 29, 2019 against the Washington Capitals.

It will be the Carolina debut for quite a few new players, as recently acquired Derek Stepan, Ian Cole, Frederik Andersen, Eric Gelinas, Josh Leivo, Alex Lyon, Sam Miletic, Stefan Noesen, Tony DeAngelo and Jesperi Kotkaniemi are all in the Hurricanes’ lineup for Tuesday night.

This will be the first of two meetings between the two teams this week, as the Canes will travel down to Amalie Arena in Tampa Friday night.

Game Notes

• Carolina’s Tuesday night lineup features 10 players that joined the organization in the 2021 offseason.
• Jack Drury and Jamieson Rees, who are both in the Hurricanes’ lineup Tuesday, will be looking to make their preseason debuts for the team.
• The Hurricanes and Lightning played twice during the 2019 preseason as well, with Carolina winning both games.
• Carolina has won four straight preseason games against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
• The Canes hold a 10-5-1-1 advantage over the Lightning in preseason games since relocation.
• The Canes all-time preseason record since relocation is 68-63-4-6

Carolina Hurricanes lineup

As with any preseason game, the Canes will be rolling out a lineup featuring a heavy mix of NHL players and prospects.

Some stars are missing, like Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, but others will play, with Vincent Trocheck and Teuvo Teravainen both in the lineup.

“You’re not going to see our full group,” Brind’Amour said. “You’ve got to know what you have. I think these first couple games are kind of easy to throw guys in here that might not be there this year, but we’ve got to know what we have.”

Frederik Andersen will be the goalie for the Canes Tuesday, with Antti Raanta likely to get the start in net Friday night. Alex Lyon will backup Andersen Tuesday, and likely see action as well.

“Individually, goalies might be the easiest to evaluate [in a preseason game],” Brind’Amour said. “At the end of the day, they’ve still just got to stop the puck.”

Here is the Canes’ full lineup for Tuesday night’s game:

Forwards: Vincent Trocheck, Derek Stepan, Stefan Noesen, Dominik Bokk, Josh Leivo, Sam Miletic, Ryan Suzuki, Jack Drury, Steven Lorentz, Jamieson Rees, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Teuvo Teravainen

Defensemen: Eric Gelinas, Ian Cole, Maxime Lajoie, Joey Keane, Jesper Sellgren, Tony DeAngelo

Goalies: Frederik Andersen, Alex Lyon

Tampa Bay Lightning lineup

The Lightning are coming off back-to-back Stanley Cups, but its lineup Tuesday night won’t feature many of the people involved in making that happen.

Tampa Bay is bringing a prospect-heavy roster to Raleigh, with Andrei Vasilevskiy, Niktia Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman and many more all absent.

Here is the full lineup that Tampa Bay will run out on the ice Tuesday in PNC Arena:

Forwards: Mathieu Joseph, Alex Barre-Boulet, Boris Katchouk, Simon Ryfors, Taylor Raddysh, Remi Elie, Cameron MacDonald, Charles Hudon, Jack Finley, Ross Colton, Daniel Walcott, Declan McDonnell

Defensemen: Frederik Claesson, Andrej Sustr, Darren Raddysh, Jan Rutta, Jack Thompson, Roman Schmidt, Mikhail Sergachev

Goalies: Maxime Lagace, Amir Miftakhov