The Carolina Hurricanes will try to avoid their longest road losing streak to begin a season in franchise history tonight, when they battle the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center.

The Hurricanes, who have already endured the longest overall losing streak in club history this year, are the only team in the NHL yet to win a game on the road. Their 0-8-3 start away from Carolina matches the 1981-82 Hartford Whalers club that began its season 0-8 with three ties. That Whalers squad didn't pick up its first road win until December 2, 1981.

Carolina will look to snap its road skid tonight just two days after having a five-game point streak end (3-0-2) thanks to a 2-0 loss in Dallas. Manny Legace made 27 saves for the Hurricanes, but Stars netminder Marty Turco halted all 22 shots he faced.

The Hurricanes appeared to tie the contest in the second period, but it was ruled that Carolina forward Ray Whitney kicked the puck into the net with his skate, nullifying the marker.

"I think we got the wrong side of that one," said Whitney about the play. "I took a swipe at it with my stick. It didn't look like it was conclusive on the video."

Forward Tuomo Ruutu has nine points in his last seven games, but left Monday's contest early due to a lower-body injury that has him questionable for tonight.

The Hurricanes are likely to get a big boost tonight with the return of Eric Staal. The center has missed Carolina's last 10 games due to an upper-body injury but was activated off of injured reserve on Wednesday.

Before the injury, Staal had appeared in 349 straight regular-season games. He has just three goals and two assists in 13 games this season.

Carolina has won its last two trips to Anaheim, including a 3-1 victory there in October of last season. The Ducks responded with a road victory over the 'Canes in November, giving them a win in five of the past eight meetings overall.

The Ducks are 2-1-0 on a seven-game homestand, picking up a victory over the Flames on Monday. Though Anaheim allowed Calgary to tie the game with just 18 seconds left in the third period, Teemu Selanne made sure his team got the two points by notching the only goal in the shootout, giving the Ducks a 3-2 victory.

Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf scored in regulation for struggling Anaheim, which won for only the second time in its last seven games overall (2-4-1). Jean- Sebastien Giguere, meanwhile, made 41 saves to earn his first victory of the season and first since March 24.

"We are pretty happy with our effort [Monday]," said Getzlaf. "There was a little breakdown at the end, but overall we played a good hockey game. We were able to pull it out. We got our two points and move forward."

Corey Perry assisted on Ryan's goal to run his career-best point streak to 15 games. He has nine goals and 12 helpers over the run, which is tied for the second longest in franchise history.

Perry has zero points and a minus-three rating in three career games versus the Hurricanes.

Joffrey Lupul has missed Anaheim's last two games due to back spasms and is questionable for tonight.