"Banged up" Hurricanes to host Maple Leafs

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes are replenishing the roster for Tuesday night's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto will have at least one roster reduction for the game at PNC Arena.

The Hurricanes have forward Micheal Ferland, the team's leader with 11 goals, back after missing four games with a concussion.

Plus, the Hurricanes recalled goalie Scott Darling from Charlotte of the American Hockey League. Darling was expected to be the team's top goalie, but he passed through waivers late last month after falling to third on the depth chart.

Darling's return comes with Curtis McElhinney suffering a lower-body injury during a practice on the West Coast trip. McElhinney was claimed off waivers from Toronto right before the starter of the season and earned a victory in net against his former team less than three weeks ago.

However, center Jordan Staal might miss the game with a concussion.

"A lot of guys banged up," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said.

Yet the Hurricanes have been off since winning Friday night at Anaheim, a result that snapped a three-game winless streak.

The objective is to make certain whoever is fill in the lineup can make contributions.

"We need guys to be impactful," Brind'Amour said. "That's what we need."

Toronto will be without forward Zach Hyman, who was levied a two-game suspension by the NHL for a hit during the weekend on Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy. This means he misses the Carolina game and a visit to Tampa Bay while sitting out his first career suspension.

The Maple Leafs are coming off the 6-3 loss at Boston.

"We're just going to have to get ourselves regrouped," Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. "We just had a real good run where we got five wins and an overtime loss and now we've got to regroup."

Maple Leafs goalie Fredrik Andersen said there's no sense on dwelling on the breakdowns in the past game, even though he was pulled before its conclusion. The game also included three fights.

"You've got to keep your confidence high," Andersen said. "You've got to move on. I liked the way we responded and sticking up for each other. Hopefully it'll be something that can tighten the group even more in the future."

The Maple Leafs might benefit from that type of experience, center John Tavares said.

"Lean from it and obviously we've got to add a little bite to our game, a little better execution," Tavares said, adding that the Maple Leafs should be irked by the time the puck drops on the next game.

Meanwhile, The Hurricanes have been lacking on offensive production despite usually posting more shots than their opponents.

"We've been snakebitten to get some bounces."

Furthermore, with adjustments to some lines because of injuries it means there might not be many smooth goals cranked out. That doesn't have to be a detriment, Brind'Amour said.

"We're not going to score a lot of pretty goals. We've pretty much established that," he said. "We need to find other ways to get them. Obviously, getting to the net is paramount."

Carolina posted a 5-2 home victory against Toronto on Nov. 21.