Ducks Gameday—Carolina Candy Canes

Anaheim Ducks (28-5-6, 1st in west) at Carolina Hurricanes (20-15-4, 4th in east)

There’s plenty of storylines for tonight’s game:

• the top team from this regular season vs. the defending Cup champs
• injuries preventing an all-Conn-Smythe goaltender matchup (the Ducks’ Wall-McKee tandem has a combined 2 games of NHL experience)
• The Ducks' first game this year without Francois Beauchemin (lacerated spleen)
• ridiculous travel (Carolina played last night in Buffalo, while Anaheim somehow got Raleigh thrown in between stops in San Jose and St. Paul)
• Rod Brind’Amour night in Raleigh commemorating his 1,000th NHL point

But I’m not even sure if tonight is a story about the Ducks as a squad, so much as it is a story about one particular Duck with understandably bitter memories of his last game played in Raleigh.
Look out, ‘Canes. It’s payback night.
Prediction: Ducks 4, Hurricanes 2. Goals by Pronger, Kunitz, Pahlsson, and Getzlaf.

p.s. Congrats to BoC all-star Mike Chen for his new work on FoxSports.