Devils at Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes attempt to shut down Taylor Hall and avenge a recent loss when they host the Metropolitan Division-rival New Jersey Devils on Sunday. Carolina, which is one point back in the race for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, has dropped two straight games - including Thursday's 5-2 setback at New Jersey.
The Hurricanes are in the midst of a stretch during which they play 11 of 12 at home and fell to 5-3-1 at PNC Arena in that span with Friday's 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders. Hall notched an assist in the Devils' 4-3 victory at Tampa Bay on Saturday to extend his point streak to 17 games. The 26-year-old left wing has collected 11 goals and 14 assists during his franchise-record run and leads the team with 61 points. New Jersey has won three in a row following a four-game slide and occupies the first wild-card spot in the East.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New Jersey), FS Carolinas
ABOUT THE DEVILS (30-20-8): Hall is not the only member of the team on fire offensively, as rookie Nico Hischier is riding a four-game point streak during which he has registered three goals and four assists. The 19-year-old Swiss center, who was selected with the first overall pick in last year's draft, has tallied in each of his last three contests. Defenseman Ben Lovejoy provided some unexpected offense against the Lightning, recording a goal and an assist - his second such effort of the season - to match his point total from the previous 26 games.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (27-23-9): Carolina recalled Lucas Wallmark from Charlotte of the American Hockey League on Saturday and assigned fellow center Patrick Brown to the Checkers. A 22-year-old Swede, Wallmark scored his first career goal while appearing in four contests with Carolina earlier this season. Left wing Jeff Skinner had his three-game goal-scoring streak - and four-game point run - halted Friday, keeping him one shy of 200 in the NHL.
OVERTIME
1. Devils D John Moore was kept off the scoresheet on Saturday after notching a point in each of his previous two games and remains three shy of 100 for his career.
2. Carolina RW Sebastian Aho leads the team with 46 points and needs five more to reach 100 in the NHL.
3. New Jersey RW Kyle Palmieri is expected to play in his 400th NHL game while Carolina C Victor Rask is slated to appear in his 300th career contest.