James Guillory – USA TODAY Sports
The Carolina Hurricanes have been average, at best, with a record of 4-4-0 and eight points on the season. The team has yet to have any consistency and is hoping to build off of the momentum they gained from their 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs this past Tuesday.
Newly acquired forward Jordan Staal, has yet to provide the spark that the Hurricanes were hoping he would when they traded Brandon Sutter to the Pittsburgh Penguins for him this past off-season. Staal was an elite, third-line centerman for the Penguins who now needs to step-up for Carolina to make the trade pay off. Going into the game against the Maple Leafs, Staal had been held without a goal as a Hurricane, but found the back of the net within minutes of the second period. He can now take the drive made by that goal and put it to good use for the Hurricanes; the goal can be the start of good things ahead for him as well as the team especially once he finds his niche like he did with the Penguins.
Carolina plays again tonight on the road against the Ottawa Senators. The puck is set to drop at 7:30 pm (est) and will be televised on FS – Carolinas and SNET – East.
Stephanie Lewark is a featured Pittsburgh Penguins columnist for RantSports.com. If you enjoy her articles / posts, you can follow her on Twitter (@steelcitysports), check out her personal Facebook page (via Networked Blogs), visit her personal Tumblr page, or stop by her Pinterest page.
