Panthers at Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes have pulled themselves out of a tailspin by gaining at least a point in five of their last six contests and look to complete a six-game homestand with another victory Friday against the Florida Panthers. The Hurricanes have followed up a five-game losing streak with a 4-1-1 run after an impressive 5-2 victory over Toronto on Wednesday.
“It’s huge,” Carolina power forward Micheal Ferland told reporters after scoring for the fourth time in five games Wednesday. “Coming into (Wednesday), we wanted to make a statement that we could play with any team. I thought we played really good.” The Hurricanes are fourth in the Metropolitan Division and three points out of first while the Panthers have dropped three of their last four to reside at the bottom of the Atlantic Division. Florida has games in hand on everyone above it in the Atlantic, but comes in off a 7-3 loss at Sunshine State-rival Tampa Bay on Wednesday despite recording 43 shots on net. “Just too many unforced errors,” Panthers left wing Mike Hoffman told reporters after extending his point streak to 17 games. “You can’t be giving up that many goals if you expect to win any game.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Florida, FS Carolinas
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (8-8-3): Hoffman has 10 goals and 10 points during his streak and leads the team with 20 points - one better that right wing Evgenii Dadonov (nine goals), along with defenseman Keith Yandle (15 assists). Captain Aleksander Barkov (18 points) has scored in back-to-back contests while fellow forward Jonathan Huberdeau owns four assists in the last four games and is one shy of 100 goals for his career. Florida has scored at least one power-play goal in 10 consecutive games, going 14-for-38 in that stretch, and moved to sixth in the league at 25.6 percent.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (10-8-3): Sebastian Aho has posted seven points in the last six contests after a three-game drought and leads the team with 24 - seven better than fellow forward Teuvo Teravainen, who is slated to play his 300th game Friday. Rookie Andrei Svechnikov, 18, scored his fifth goal Wednesday and coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters: “You see the confidence starting to come out of him. He’s hanging on to pucks in the offensive zone, taking it to the net really hard.” Center Victor Rask returned to the lineup against Toronto after missing 20 games with a hand injury.
OVERTIME
1. Florida G Roberto Luongo has surrendered 16 goals on 88 shots in his last three appearances.
2. Carolina F Justin Williams has scored in back-to-back games to reach 100 with the franchise.
3. The Hurricanes have points in five of the last six meetings (4-1-1), including three straight victories at home.