The Boston Bruins (9-2-1) are opening a two-game road trip against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes (9-2-2). The Hurricanes have a one-point lead over the Bruins for the top spot in both the Eastern Conference and the NHL. 

The Bruins are riding high and enter Raleigh on an eight-game point streak (7-0-1). They have a three-point cushion at the top of the Atlantic Division, with the Senators and Maple Leafs both chasing the Bruins early in the season. They swept their two-game homestand last week, with wins over Nashville and San Jose, and they picked up seven of eight possible points on their last road trip. 

The Hurricanes have been just as hot as the Bruins, but that may be expected with the banner they raised on September 29. They started the season with back-to-back losses, but they’ve rallied for nine wins in their last 11 games. They are coming off a 4-0 win over Jim Montgomery’s St. Louis Blues, with the undefeated Pyotr Kochetkov picking up the first shutout of his season. Kochetkov has won all seven contests he has played in, while Sebastian Aho leads the team with 18 points (7-11–18). 

The Hurricanes are 2-1-1 at home, while the Bruins are 4-1-1 on the road. Both teams rank among the NHL’s top four in goals scored and goals against per game. The Bruins are in the top three for both categories, averaging 4.00 goals for and 2.17 against, while the Hurricanes rank fourth in both, averaging 3.92 goals for and 2.46 against.

Bruins Morning Skate Notes

The Bruins will skate at Lenovo Center at 11:30 AM. Updates from Marco Sturm will follow.   

After practice on Monday, Sturm said that the game was not a measuring-stick game for the Bruins, but a chance to take down the Stanley Cup champion.

“Those guys [are] now the hunted guys. It’s the team you want to beat,” Sturm said on Tuesday. “That’s how I see it. And they did a great job last season, and they’re already in championship form right now, so it’s going to be great for us going into a game like that and to do our best to beat the best team. So that’s how I see it.”

The Bruins have a 4-1-1 record away from TD Garden, and they have outscored opponents 21-16. Last season, they finished 16-16-9 on the road, which was the worst away record for any team that qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“Not sure,” Sturm said when asked what has gone into the road success. “We just kind of played our game for 60 minutes; I think that’s something I noticed, especially on the road. Even with tough starts, I think our goalies were excellent. They helped us get through that phase, and after that, I think we’ve just been pretty solid throughout the game. Not too many ups and downs, so that was nice to see.”

Expected Bruins Lines

Forwards

Defensemen

Starting Goalie

Jeremy Swayman (7-1-1, 2.20 GAA, .920 SV%)

Expected Hurricanes Lines

Forwards

William Carrier – Sebastian Aho – Andrei Svechnikov

Nikolaj Ehlers – Logan Stankoven – Jackson Blake

Eric Robinson – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Skyler Brind’Amour

Defensemen

Jaccob Slavin – Jalen Chatfield

K’Andre Miller – Sean Walker

Shayne Gostisbehere – Juuso Valimaki

Starting Goalie

Pyotr Kochetkov (7-0-0, 1.70 GAA, .916 SV%)

Special Teams

Bruins

• Power play: 22.2% (12th)

• Penalty kill: 78.6% (18th)

Hurricanes 

• Power play: 25.5% (8th)

• Penalty kill: 83.7% (9th)

Season Series

Tuesday, Oct. 27: at Carolina, 8:00 PM

Sunday, Dec. 13: at Carolina, 1:00 PM

Tuesday, Jan. 12: at Boston, 7:00 PM

Upcoming Schedule

Thursday, Oct. 29: at St. Louis, 8:00 PM

Saturday, Oct. 31: vs. Chicago, 1:00 PM

Monday, Nov. 2: vs. Vegas, 7:00 PM

Thursday, Nov. 5: at Pittsburgh, 7:00 PM