In many of its recent games, it's been difficult to predict which Carolina Hurricanes team will show up. Is it the one that scores goals in bunches or the one that can barely dent the net?
The Hurricanes were a high-scoring team in their latest game and in a victory against the Winnipeg Jets earlier this month. They'll try for another such effort while keeping the Jets from a franchise-record fifth straight road win Tuesday night.
Carolina (25-21-10) has scored five or more goals in four of its last 10 games. The Hurricanes have also tallied one or none in the other six.
They had their best offensive performance of the season Saturday, a 6-3 victory against the New York Islanders, and Victor Rask found the net twice after scoring one goal in his previous 14 games.
"We can become more consistent offensively," coach Bill Peters said. "Three (goals) is a beautiful number, I think. If you can get to three each and every night, you're getting a point or points. I think we have enough skill to get three a night."
The Hurricanes won 5-3 in Winnipeg on Feb. 5 with Andrej Nestrasil scoring twice and Jordan Staal recording a season-best three points. Netrasil has four of his nine goals in his last four games.
"We're a lot better team than we played them in Winnipeg so it'll be a truer indication," Peters said. "I think they'll play better. We'll play better. That was (the first game) coming out of the All-Star break. That's a different time when you take all those days off."
The Jets (25-27-3) are hoping to change the result in this matchup and extend their road point streak to seven games, which is one shy of the franchise mark they set last season. Winnipeg has won its last five games in Carolina.
The Hurricanes hoped to have leading scorer Justin Faulk available, but the defenseman will miss a third straight game with a lower-body injury.
Goaltender Cam Ward also won't play due to a lower-body ailment. He kept the Jets scoreless for the first 38 minutes in the victory in Winnipeg, and Faulk scored one of the team's four first-period goals.
''If this was Game 82 and we'd need to win, (Ward would be) available. It's not,'' Peters said.
Eddie Lack will start this game, and Daniel Altshuller was recalled from the minors to be his backup.
Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec registered a 2-1 shootout win in Edmonton on Saturday in his return from a knee injury that had kept him out since Nov. 21.
"To win always feels good," Pavelec said. "It was nice to be back after almost three months. I enjoyed it. The guys did a great job to keep them outside and they were patient. They were waiting for their opportunities, and in the first few minutes, that helped me a lot."
Pavelec is 5-1-0 with a 2.01 goals-against average in his last six games against Carolina. Hurricanes netminder Eddie Lack gave up five goals in his most recent matchup with Winnipeg on April 4 while with Vancouver after going 4-1-0 with a 2.29 GAA in his first five meetings.
The Jets won't have defenseman Mark Stuart for at least four weeks because of a broken hand, and Adam Pardy is expected to take his spot.
