Hurricanes vs Islanders: Preview

Carolina Hurricanes vs New York Islanders
February 13, 2016 - 7:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
Fox Sports Carolinas - 99.9 FM - WRALSportsFan app
SB Nation Rivals - Lighthouse Hockey

Vital Statistics

*Stats from NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• The Hurricanes Stanley Cup 10th Anniversary celebration continues tonight so first things first... If you're coming to the game, the doors open early (5:30 pm) and there are activities on the concourse and around the arena. Pregame ceremonies will begin at 6:45 pm so be in your seat early. If you're planning to tailgate, be aware there's N.C. State basketball at PNC Arena today starting at noon. If you're watching or recording, tonight's pregame show runs a full hour and begins at 6:00 pm.
• On to tonight's game... Much is on the line as the Canes now trail the final Eastern Conference wild card spot by five points thanks to a 2-1 overtime loss to the Penguins last night. The Isles sit in the third spot in the Metro division race, six points ahead of the Canes, and the best way to gain ground in the chase is by winning these head-to-head games against division rivals.
• The Canes and Islanders square off for the second of four games this season. They last met on Oct. 29 in Brooklyn and the Canes were victorious in a 3-2 overtime win with Ron Hainsey netting the overtime goal and Eddie Lack logging his first win with his new team.
• After a middle-of-the-road January, the Isles come into tonight's game on a three-game win streak, their most recent a 5-2 shellacking of the Kings Thursday night. Oh look who's hot again, John Tavares, with seven points (3g, 4a) in his last four games and 20 points in his last 20 games. Tied for the team points lead (43) with Kyle Okposo, and tied for the team goals lead (20) with Brock Nelson, Tavares has 30 points (16g, 14a) in 23 career games against the Canes.
• Isles head coach Jack Capuano has been alternating starting goaltenders of late, and Thomas Greiss started Thursday night so it looks like it may be Jaroslav Halak's turn tonight. Halak is 2-3-1 with a 2.35 GAA in seven career games against the Canes and Greiss is 1-1-1 with a 2.67 GAA in three.
• The Isles are also clicking on special teams play, scoring power play goals in four straight games and boasting the leagues second-best penalty kill (87.1%).
• While the Isles have been waiting in Raleigh for tonight's game, the Canes are playing the back end of their 13th set of back-to-back games this season and are coming off an extra inning and a shootout. Five players (Jaccob Slavin, John-Michael Liles, Ron Hainsey, Elias Lindholm and Eric Staal) all logged over 22 minutes in last night's game, and they'll hope to get a bit of relief tonight if Justin Faulk is able to return to the line-up. Faulk was injured in Thursday's practice and unable to play last night, but Bill Peters didn't rule him out for tonight's game.
• The Canes won't skate this morning, so updates may be few and far between prior to warmups.

Projected Lineups

Hurricanes (2/12 vs Penguins)

Kris Versteeg - Eric Staal - Elias Lindholm
Joakim Nordstrom - Jordan Staal - Andrej Nestrasil
Jeff Skinner - Victor Rask - Phil Di Giuseppe
Nathan Gerbe - Jay McClement - Chris Terry
Riley Nash
Brad Malone

Ron Hainsey - Jaccob Slavin
John-Michael Liles - Brett Pesce
Noah Hanifin - Michal Jordan

Cam Ward
Eddie Lack

Injuries and scratches: James Wisniewski (IR ACL), Justin Faulk (DTD lower body)

Islanders (2/11 vs Kings)

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

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

Jaroslav Halak
Thomas Greiss
Jean-Francois Berube

Injuries and Scratches: Eric Boulton (IR undisclosed), Adam Pelech (IR upper body)

Storm Debris

• Canes Gameday Hub [CH.com].
• Fan guide for today's Stanley Cup Anniversary activities [CH.com] [Canes Country].
• Some goalies are going over to the dark side (equipment-wise), including Eddie Lack [NHL.com].
• John Tavares is as hot as his wrist shot [Isles.com].
• The Islanders must begin defeating Eastern Conference foes [Newsday].