Hurricanes at Islanders: Preview

Carolina Hurricanes at New York Islanders
October 29, 2015 - 7:00 pm ET
Barclays Center - Brooklyn, NY
Fox Sports Carolinas - 99.9 FM - WRALSportsFan app
SB Nation Rivals - Lighthouse Hockey

Vital Statistics

	Hurricanes	Islanders
Record	3-6-0	6-2-1
Points	6	13
Division Rank	7th Metro	2nd Metro
Conference Rank	13th EC	3rd EC
Last 10 Games	3-6-0	6-2-1
Streak	Won 1	Won 2
Goals/Game	1.89	3.44
Goals Against/Game	2.89	2.44
ES Goals For %	36.7%	51.4%
Shots/Game	29.4	31.4
Shots Against/Game	25.4	33.0
ES Corsi For %	53.7%	47.8%
Faceoff %	53.0%	53.1%
ES PDO	95.7	101.2
Power Play % (Rank)	8.6% (28th)	25.0% (5th)
Penalty Kill % (Rank)	80.0% (17th)	91.2% (1st)
PIM/Game	05:19	10:53
Goaltender #1	Ward	Halak
Record	3-4-0	3-1-0
ES Save %	.914	.930
GAA	2.28	1.77
Goaltender #2	Lack	Greiss
Record	0-2-0	3-0-0
ES Save %	.825	.944
GAA	4.80	2.44

*Stats from NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• Tonight the Canes play their tenth game of the season, the seventh game of their State Fair road trip, and the front end of their third set of back-to-back games. Their opponent, the New York Islanders, are off to a strong start again this season, with the third best record in the Eastern Conference and a 4-1-1 record at their new home, the Barclays Center. This is the first of four meetings this season between the Metro division rivals; the Islanders won three of four against the Canes last season.
• After defeating the Red Wings 3-1 on Tuesday night, the Canes spent a day off in the Big Apple, so there aren't any lineup updates available until later today when they hold their pre-game skate.
• Noah Hanifin, a healthy scratch on Tuesday, is hopeful to be back in the line-up. The rookie defenseman spent his day off at the NHL offices, chatting with commissioner Gary Bettman, being interviewed by NHL Network, and participating in a live fan Q&A via Periscope (links are below).
• Justin Faulk, Riley Nash, and Victor Rask all have points in their last two games. Cam Ward has been solid in net and will likely (though not confirmed) get the start tonight. Ward is 18-4-3 with a 2.63 career GAA and one shutout in 28 career games against the Islanders, and Eddit Lack is 1-1-0 with a 3.04 GAA in three games.
• Happy Birthday to Eric Staal, who turns 31 today. The captain has five points (3g, 2a) in his first nine games, leads all forwards in time on ice, is second behind Justin Faulk in points and shots, and is 53.9% in the faceoff circle. Staal was drafted second overall in the 2003 NHL Entry draft, often considered one of the best draft classes in recent history. Courtesy of Canes PR, here's how the captain ranks against the top 10 skaters of his draft class (ranked by points - through games of 10/27/15):

PLAYER	TEAMS	GP	G	A	PTS
Eric Staal	CAR	855	315	432	747
Ryan Getzlaf	ANA	718	208	471	679
Thomas Vanek	BUF-NYI-MTL-MIN	752	302	314	616
Corey Perry	ANA	731	296	308	604
Zach Parise	NJD-MIN	700	281	294	575
Patrice Bergeron	BOS	748	210	349	559
Jeff Carter	PHL-CBJ-LAK	727	286	245	531
Joe Pavelski	SJS	651	231	261	492
Mike Richards	PHL-LAK	710	179	303	482
Loui Eriksson	DAL-BOS	651	184	266	450

• Staal's empty netter sealed the 3-1 win Tuesday night, but he and his teammates will need to muster a lot of firepower to match the Islanders offense, which over the last seven games has not scored less than three goals and is averaging over four goals per game. The Islanders are also lethal on special teams; their 25% clip on the power play ranks 5th in the NHL, and their penalty kill is a league-best 91.2%.
• John Tavares is ranked in the top ten among NHL points leaders with 11 points (5g, 6a) and he is a Canes killer, with 30 points (16g, 14a) in 22 career games against the Canes, and 8 points (3g, 5a) in four games against the Canes last season. Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome are also career point-per-game players against the Canes, and Josh Bailey has five points (2g, 3a) in his last five games.
• The Islanders are coming off a 4-0 shutout win against the Calgary Flames Monday night, and a few changes are expected to the line-up as their pre-game skate wraps up this morning. Anders Lee skated on the top line with John Tavares and Josh Bailey yesterday, and on defense, Scott Mayfield may be recalled to replace Thomas Hickey, who will be out of the line-up with a lower-body injury. Goaltender Thomas Greiss held the fort early in the season as Jaroslav Halak recovered from an offseason injury, and the two goaltenders have split responsibilities recently. Halak is 2-3-1 with a 2.35 GAA in seven career games against Carolina, and Greiss is 1-1-0 with a 2.54 GAA.

Projected Lineups

Hurricanes (Updated 12:30 pm from pre-game skate)

Eric Staal - Victor Rask - Elias Lindholm
Nathan Gerbe - Jordan Staal - Chris Terry
Jeff Skinner - Riley Nash - Kris Versteeg
Andrej Nestrasil - Jay McClement - Brock McGinn

Ron Hainsey - Justin Faulk 
John-Michael Liles - Brett Pesce
Noah Hanifin - Ryan Murphy

Eddie Lack 
Cam Ward

Injuries and scratches: James Wisniewski (IR - ACL), Joakim Nordstrom (lower body), Brad Malone (healthy), Michal Jordan (healthy)

Islanders (Updated 12:30 pm from pre-game skate)

Anders Lee - John Tavares - Josh Bailey
Nikolay Kulemin - Frans Nielsen - Kyle Okposo
Brock Nelson - Mikhail Grabovski - Ryan Strome
Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck

Nick Leddy - Johnny Boychuk
Calvin de Haan - Travis Hamonic
Brian Strait - Marek Zidlicky

Thomas Greiss
Jean-Francois Berube

Injuries and Scratches: Eric Boulton (lower body), Thomas Hickey (lower body), Steve Bernier (healthy), Jaroslav Halak (illness)

Storm Debris

• Noah guy who's making the media rounds yesterday in New York? Here's Noah Hanifin on NHL Network [NHL.com] and participating in a fan Q&A [Periscope].
• The Hurricanes Kids 'N Community Foundation has awarded GOAL Grants to two new and very deserving organizations [CH.com].
• Section 328 (more specifically Mr. Workrate) decodes the CBA and what it means for Noah Hanifin and ELCs [Section 328].
• Also from Section 328, new writer Cane-alytics tells his hockey origin story (hint: it goes from Hartford to Raleigh and you don't want to miss it) [Section 328].
• This week's Tweetmail also covers Hanifin's contract, along with some great insight on 3-on-3 OT strategy from a goaltender's perspective [CH.com].
• The Islanders special teams are clicking [Islanders.com]
• The Islanders are in a new home, and fans are quickly adjusting to it [Islanders Point Blank]. Or are they? [IB Times] [NHLonNBC].
• Islanders head coach Jack Capuano is apparently already breaking the NHL's new Coach's Challenge by using it to - gasp - kill the flow of the game [Lighthouse Hockey].
• Last but certainly not least... If you're thinking about going to the Flyers game on 11/14 or the Kings game on 11/22, and if you don't have tickets yet, or if you're in a particularly charitable mood and would like to help a good cause... The Canes have a special promotional ticket offer with discount prices for those games, and a portion of the proceeds will go to help provide turkeys for Thanksgiving through the Helping Hand Mission and other local organizations. Here are the details. Be aware this promotion is TODAY extended through Monday so act quickly!