Overview
- Carolina leads the East at 43-19-6 (92 points) after a 6-5 overtime win against Pittsburgh, where Sean Walker scored the winner.
- The teams meet at Scotiabank Arena at 7:00 PM EDT for their final regular-season matchup.
- Toronto is 29-28-12 and coming off a 3-1 loss to the Islanders that left the club 14th in the Eastern Conference.
- Auston Matthews is out for the season following knee surgery after a knee-on-knee check by Radko Gudas, whose five-game suspension remains contested in league circles.
- Projected, not confirmed, starters are Brandon Bussi for Carolina and Joseph Woll for Toronto, with no update on Shayne Gostisbehere and Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s return unclear as the Hurricanes tout five 20-goal scorers including Jackson Blake.