Today on Bruins Daily

Chris Chirichiello kicks things off with another edition of his Bruins Daily Player of the Week. Will Tuukka Rask win the award for the second week in a row, or will there be a newcomer who earns this week’s honors. Stay tuned!

Oh, and there’s a hockey game tonight in Carolina. While many Bostonians will have their attention turned to the Patriots-Panthers showdown on Monday night football in Charlotte, the Bruins will kick things off 170 miles northeast in Raleigh in their first matchup of the season against the Carolina Hurricanes. It is the second of a three-game road trip for the Black and Gold, which started off on the wrong foot after blowing a two-goal lead in their 4-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators Friday night.

After two days off, will the B’s bounce back before facing the Rangers Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden? Follow along with us on Twitter at @BruinsDaily on Twitter and include #DailyLive in your tweets.

In case you missed it

The Bruins went 4-0-1 on their five-game homestand that ended with a 3-2 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets last Thursday night. Fellow Bruins Daily colleague Dan St. Pierre weighs in on the team’s home cooking.

Know the enemy

To say that the Hurricanes have been a thorn on the Bruins side the last few seasons would be an understatement. Carolina has won five of the last seven meetings against the Black and Gold that included a season sweep in the 2011-12 season.

Despite having several injuries to key players such as Jeff Skinner, Joni Pitkanen and former Bruin Anton Khudobin, the ‘Canes, at 8-8-4, find themselves right in the thick of the lethargic Metropolitan Division trailing the division leading Washington Capitals by five points in the standings. Still, the Canes’ 39 goals are second to last in the league – ahead of fellow division foe Philadelphia – and find themselves in the bottom half on both the power play (25th at 13.2 percent) and penalty kill (21st, 80.3 percent).

Good news could be on the way as Skinner is close to returning. Former Capitals forward Alex Semin, however, has been ruled out tonight.

Despite a 4-6-1 record, Justin Peters is playing some solid hockey between the pipes sporting a .921 save percentage and 2.35 goals against average. But the Canes will go with Cam Ward tonight, who is 2-2-3 on the season with a 2.81 goals against average and .912 save percentage.

The Bruins might have their work cut out for them, and don’t be surprised if we see a low-scoring game tonight. But the two points are there for the taking.

Bruins linkage

Despite the loss to Ottawa, the Bruins are enjoying some early success in the new-look Atlantic Division. (Kirk Vance/The Hockey Writers)

No hearing for Dennis Seidenberg scheduled for his “elbow” on Sens forward Bobby Ryan. (Joe Haggerty/CSNNE)

Dougie Hamilton got some good advice this summer from his childhood idol and former No. 1 overall pick Bryan Berard. (Joe McDonald/ESPN Boston)

League linkage

Rejoice, universe, Ilya Bryzgalov was called up by the Edmonton Oilers this week, and his first start in 2013-14 could be against fellow ex-Flyer Sergei Bobrovsky. (Greg Wyshynski/Puck Daddy)

Shootouts are on the rise in the NHL and the league GM’s discussed extending overtimes to seven, eight or even ten minutes last week in Toronto. (Tim Wharnsby/CBC)

Kris Versteeg made a triumphant return to the United Center in the Blackhawks’ 5-1 win over the Sharks. (Nina Falcone/CSN Chicago)

Bruins projected lines

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Loui Eriksson
Reilly Smith-Chris Kelly-Carl Soderberg
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg-Torey Krug
Matt Bartkowski-Johnny Boychuk

Tuukka Rask
Chad Johnson

‘Canes projected lines

Drayson Bowman-Eric Staal-Tuomo Ruutu
Nathan Gerbe-Jordan Staal-Patrick Dwyer
Jiri Tlustly-Riley Nash-Chris Terry
Mike Komisarek-Manny Malhotra-Radek Dvorak

Tim Gleason-Ryan Murphy
Rob Hainsey-Brett Bellemore
Justin Faulk-Andrej Sekera

Cam Ward
Justin Peters

Tweets of interest

Ben Scrivens has two straight shutouts and is the league’s best story in the early part of the 2013-14 season. Look out, Jonathan Quick, because this is trending:

#Scri-Vezina

— Sean Leahy (@Sean_Leahy) November 18, 2013

For once, former WWE champion and C-list celebrity The Iron Sheik has a tweet that is safe for work:

#OneOfMyFavoriteMoviesIs The Goonies

— The Iron Sheik (@the_ironsheik) November 18, 2013

For something completely different

Dunkin’ Donut ATMs are the newest sensation in Boston, apparently. No seriously, I thought I saw it all.