The Carolina Hurricanes are

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RALEIGH Brian Elliott Jersey , N.C. — in what seems like a rare position this week.They’re coming off a victory.It needs to become a habit.Article continues below ...“Winning is a lot more fun, isn’t it?” Hurricanes captain Justin Williams said. “We need to start something rolling here. We need to get it going soon.”The next opportunity for that comes against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night at PNC Arena.The Maple Leafs have developed that winning feeling with a four-game winning streak that includes Monday night’s 4-2 comeback victory against the St. Louis Blues.“It was a four-line win and those are important,” Maple Leafs left winger Zach Hyman said.The Hurricanes haven’t been as consistent during the past few weeks, winning three of their last 10 games (3-5-2).Yet in an uneven performance Sunday against the New Jersey Devils, they came out on top. That was largely due to two goals in the opening 30 seconds.Carolina is 6-2-0 when scoring first.“We haven’t gotten the first goal as much as we would like this season,” center Jordan Staal said, noting the difference in that outing. “It wasn’t our best game http://www.officialflyersproshop.com/authentic-adidas-claude-giroux-jersey , but I felt like we worked hard.”What the Hurricanes are counting on is that 2-1 result being a springboard to a stretch of better outcomes.“It’s good for us to play some close games like that to have some confidence later in the season,” Williams said.That’s something that Maple Leafs have latched on to.They’ve learned that that persistence can pay off.“Our team never gives up and that’s something special,” said Toronto right winger Mitch Marner. “This team shows no quit. That’s something that we need to keep going forward.”This marks the first meeting of the season between the Maple Leafs and Hurricanes.It could involve Carolina goalie Curtis McElhinney against his former team. McElhinney had gone through a long stretch of inactivity until posting his team-leading fourth victory Sunday.“You want to get back in there and feel the rhythm,” McElhinney said. “When you get an opportunity, you want to show you’re more than capable to help this team get wins.”The Hurricanes claimed McElhinney off waivers from the Maple Leafs right before the start of the regular season.Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said the matchup with Toronto comes with an obvious connection.“He wants to play every night,” Brind’Amour said while being cautious in committing to giving McElhinney this assignment.McElhinney has been used just twice since Oct. 20.Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs count on goalie Frederik Andersen.“He has been the MVP of this team Ivan Provorov Jersey ,” said Marner, who has a team-high 28 points. “He expects himself to be the best every night. … He hasn’t been anything short of that.”Toronto center John Tavares has four of his team-best 13 goals in the last five games.The Hurricanes are led by Micheal Ferland’s 10 goals.This marks the fifth game in a six-game homestand for Carolina. The Maple Leafs will return to Raleigh on Dec. 11. Women’s hockey star Kendall Coyne Schofield said Thursday she doesn’t believe NBC Sports analyst Pierre McGuire questioned her knowledge of the sport during an awkward pre-game interaction this week.McGuire was criticized on social media for the situation that occurred during Wednesday night’s game in Pittsburgh between the Penguins and the Tampa Bay Lightning. During the broadcast on NBC Sports Network, the two were near the ice and he told Coyne Schofield which benches the teams were on and noted the network was paying her to be an analyst, not a fan.In a statement provided by NBC Sports to The Associated Press, McGuire said: “We were all thrilled to have her join our coverage last night, but at times my excitement got the better of me and I should have chosen my words better. I have the utmost respect for Kendall as a world-class player, analyst of the game and role model.”McGuire has been calling women’s hockey games for more than 15 years Jakub Voracek Jersey Kids , including several Olympics.In a statement posted to her Twitter account, Coyne Schofield said she has known McGuire for years and she knows he respects her “as a hockey player, a woman and a friend” and she didn’t think twice about the situation when it happened. After watching the segment on video, Coyne Schofield said, she understands why people would think it was inappropriate and would have been offended if she saw a man say that to a female athlete.“While I wish it came out differently, I know Pierre doesn’t question my hockey knowledge,” she wrote.Coyne Schofield also said she knows McGuire was excited for her.“What IS important is for every young girl reading this to know it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks of my hockey knowledge — because I do not doubt my hockey knowledge Youth Jordan Weal Jersey ,” she wrote.Coyne Schofield, an Illinois native who is on the Minnesota Whitecaps roster in the NWHL, won a gold medal playing for the U.S. at the 2018 Olympics and a silver medal four years earlier. She was one of the biggest stars of NHL All-Star Weekend as she wowed in replacing Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon in the fastest skater competition.Agent Kevin Magnuson said Coyne Schofield wanted her statement to stand without further comment.