The Carolina Hurricanes, who have had disappointing endings in the playoffs in recent years, are not taking any chances that any of their key players will be injured in the team's last game of the regular season on Tuesday.
Team reporter Walt Duff reported Tuesday that the Hurricanes were planning on sitting scoring leader Sebastian Aho, goalie Frederik Andersen, trade-deadline acquisition Jake Guentzel, and regulars Seth Jarvis, Brett Pesce, Jaccob Slavin, Jordan Staal and Andrei Svechnikov.
Considering all those absences, it was expected that Max Comtois would make his team debut when the Hurricanes face the Columbus Blue Jackets, a game that can be seen on Sportsnet+ starting at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.
The Hurricanes locked up a playoff spot on March 29 with a 4-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings in which Andersen made 24 saves, and Aho and Jarvis each had a goal and two assists. They head into Tuesday's game with a 52-22-7 record, including 8-2 in their last 10.
The Hurricanes' first-round opponent was determined when the New York Islanders qualified for the post-season with a win over the New Jersey Devils on Monday.
Although the team has been a regular-season juggernaut the last few years under coach Rod Brind'Amour, it has not advanced past the conference finals since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006. Last year, in a season in which the Hurricanes were favoured to go all the way, they were bounced from the conference finals by the streaking Florida Panthers. In the three years prior to that, the Hurricanes were bounced in the second round twice and the first round once.
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