After winning their first two games of the season, the Carolina Hurricanes begin their six-game, 12-day road trip against the San Jose Sharks, who have lost twice in overtime to start their season. Regarding Rod Brind’Amour’s side, they’ve won their first two games of the season at home. Their latest win came in a 4-3 overtime thriller over the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 11.
Hurricanes vs. Sharks Preview
The Hurricanes look to kick off the long North Carolina State Fair Road Trip with a win in Northern California. Both teams are going in opposite directions, and it will be a late one for Hurricanes fans on the East Coast. Here is where you can watch or listen to the game:
Watch: FanDuel Sports Network South (Mike Maniscalco and Tripp Tracy)
Listen: 99.9 The Fan
Puck Drop: 10:00 p.m. Eastern
Following his three goals in the first two games, Seth Jarvis looks to continue his hot start to the 2025-26 season. His two game-winning goals this season matched his total from 2024-25, putting him at 99 career goals in 306 games. He became the first Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers player to score game-winning goals in each of the team’s first two games of a season. While Jarvis and Sebastian Aho both have three points, there is a belief that Nikolaj Ehlers will tally his first point with the team soon. It’s still a work in progress, but that top line has had some looks through the first two games.
Related: Seth Jarvis’ Early-Season Impact Will Be a Catalyst for Hurricanes’ Success
The Hurricanes, however, will start the road trip without Pyotr Kocehtkov, who was placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 5. He sustained an injury during their last preseason game against the Nashville Predators and has already missed some time. They think the Russian netminder could meet up with the team at some point during the trip, hopefully. However, they do have Brandon Bussi, whom they claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers on Oct. 6.
When asked about Bussi and if he will be used, Brind’Amour stated, “I’m pretty sure we’ll put Brandon in there. I don’t know when, but we don’t want to overdo Freddie at the start of the season.” He went on to talk about his trust in the 27-year-old American netminder, “That’s why we picked him up. We’ve played three goalies the last how many years? We’re always using a third guy, so we definitely have no problem with that.”
Another piece of news is that Jaccob Slavin is currently TBD on whether he will be ready to play on Tuesday against the Sharks. During the preseason, he did not play in any games due to a minor injury. The Hurricanes believe it could be related, since he did not practice with the team on Monday. When asked about Slavin, “He’s getting looked at again,” said Brind’Amour. “He didn’t feel great at the end of the game (on Saturday), so that’s still TBD, I guess.”
As of right now, the Hurricanes have recalled Charles Alexis Legault from the Chicago Wolves to fill in as their seventh defenseman. After a strong preseason and training camp, it made sense to bring up Legault in case Slavin is not 100% ready to go. It’ll be interesting to see how the defensive pairs will be, but the Hurricanes have played without Slavin before in seasons past and fared well.
Related: Hurricanes’ Seth Jarvis Wins Wacky OT Period vs. Flyers
When it comes to the Sharks, fans will have to keep an eye on the youth movement taking place in San Jose. It’s no surprise that all eyes will be on first-line center Macklin Celebrini as he looks to build off his 25-goal, 63-point rookie season in 2024-25. The Hurricanes will have to be mindful of Will Smith, not the baseball player or the actor/musician, who had 18 goals and 45 points in his rookie season, alongside Celebrini. The third young Sharks player to keep an eye on is Michael Misa, who according to Curtis Pashelka will make his NHL debut against the Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
While there are some other key names to watch on the Sharks, William Eklund, Tyler Toffoli, and former Hurricanes Jeff Skinner and Dmitry Orlov, it’s the youth of San Jose to be mindful of. However, with how the Sharks have been over the last two games, the Hurricanes should hopefully put this game away. They just cannot overlook them because in today’s NHL, anyone can beat anyone.
It will be “Canes After Dark” with the puck drop being scheduled for 10 p.m. Eastern for Hurricanes fans back East. It’ll be a thrilling game and one where the Hurricanes look to start the road trip 1-0 and go 3-0 to start the season. The Hurricanes finished below .500 on the road last season. The hope in 2025-26 is to reverse those fortunes and have a winning record away from the Lenovo Center.
