Still needing players to fill out their lineup, the Carolina Hurricanes recalled forwards Brody Sutter and Brendan Woods on Saturday.
The players take their turn in an ongoing rotation between the two clubs that has seen Carolina do its best to keep Charlotte stocked with players for its playoff push in between NHL games. Rather than keep players like Derek Ryan and Sergey Tolchinsky, each of whom factored in Charlotte’s 6-3 win over Texas on Friday, throughout the week, the current strategy of cycling players continues to give different Charlotte players opportunities to showcase themselves in the NHL while keeping the Checkers’ lineup as strong as possible.
Sutter and Woods have been part of that cycle ever since the NHL trade deadline saw a handful of players depart and handful of injuries begin to mount in Carolina. Both players are still looking for their first NHL point – something that Checkers mainstays Ryan, Tolchinksy and Patrick Brown have found in recent weeks – with Sutter having played in seven games this season and Woods three.
With Brock McGinn and Anthony Camara returning from injury last night, Charlotte had two healthy extras in the form of forward Ethan Werek and defenseman Tyler Ganly – both of whom are now likely to draw back into the lineup tonight unless one of a still-injured group that includes Andrew Miller and Rasmus Rissanen, among others, could make a return.
Carolina plays at home against Columbus simultaneous to the Checkers’ 7 p.m. home rematch against Texas. Thanks to Friday’s win and San Jose’s subsequent loss to Bakersfield, Charlotte finds itself back in playoff position for the time being but could potentially fall back out depending on tonight’s results. The Checkers have seven games remaining in the regular season.
