Andrew Ference Remains Questionable As Bruins Take on Hurricanes Again in Carolina

The Bruins will look to complete a sweep of their home-and-home series with the Hurricanes in Carolina on Tuesday, while the Hurricanes will be out for a little revenge after getting routed 7-0 in Boston on Monday.

With the back-to-back games, both teams held optional skates on Tuesday morning, but there aren't many lineup changes expected.

The Bruins got Milan Lucic and Mark Stuart back from injuries on Monday, and defenseman Andrew Ference (upper body) made the trip to Carolina and could return on Tuesday, but he stayed out for extra work at the skate. Coach Claude Julien called him questionable for this game, indicating it might be better to give him a couple of more days to rest.

The strong play of youngsters like Steven Kampfer and Adam McQuaid and the return of Stuart gives Julien the luxury of waiting on Ference, but the Bruins' coach will face a tough choice on who to take out of the lineup when Ference is ready to return.

Daniel Paille, Greg Campbell, Stuart, McQuaid and Tuukka Rask were the other Bruins to participate in the optional skate. Paille was a healthy scratch Monday with Lucic's return and will likely remain the odd man out, while Rask getting extra work in the morning would likely indicate Tim Thomas will get another start in this one.

Thomas made 31 saves for his league-leading seventh shutout of the season on Monday. After each of his first six shutouts, he started the next game, and Julien is expected to stick with the hot hand again on Tuesday.

Carolina will counter with Cam Ward, who will get another chance against the Bruins after being pulled in the first period on Monday. Ward allowed two goals on five shots and had another shot get by him, but Lucic's goal was waved off because of a Zdeno Chara penalty.

Thomas and Chara, who scored his first career hat trick in Monday's win, may have improved their draft stock for the new All-Star Game format with their big performances in front of Carolina's Eric Staal. Staal and Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom were elected as captains for the All-Star Game on Tuesday, and that duo will pick the teams in a fantasy draft before the game in Carolina on Jan. 30.

Carolina could have forward Jiri Tlusty (upper body) back in this game. He was activated from injured reserve on Monday but did not play in that game. That could change on Tuesday if Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice looks to shake things up after Monday's one-sided loss.

Projected Bruins lines

Forwards
Michael Ryder-Marc Savard-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Tyler Seguin
Blake Wheeler-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton

Defense
Zdeno Chara-Steven Kampfer
Dennis Seidenberg-Johnny Boychuk
Mark Stuart-Adam McQuaid

Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask

Scratches: Daniel Paille, Andrew Ference (upper body)

Projected Hurricanes lines

Forwards
Jussi Jokinen-Eric Staal-Erik Cole
Chad LaRose-Jeff Skinner-Tuomo Ruutu
Zach Boychuk-Brandon Sutter-Patrick Dwyer
Sergei Samsonov-Ryan Carter-Troy Bodie

Defense
Joni Pitkanen-Jamie McBain
Tim Gleason-Joe Corvo
Ian White-Jay Harrison

Goalies
Cam Ward
Justin Peters

Scratches: Jiri Tlusty