Hurricanes at Islanders
THE STORY: The New York Islanders will look for the season series sweep of the Hurricanes when they host Carolina on Saturday. New York earned all three of its wins in January, including two in the Tar Heel State. One game went to overtime and another to a shootout. All-Star John Tavares scored the game-winning goal in the last two meetings. The Islanders will also be looking to improve to .500 on the season and on home ice.
TV: 7 p.m. ET. FS-Carolina (HD), MSG Plus
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (22-25-11): Carolina collected points in sixth straight game (4-0-2) by posting a 3-2 victory over the visiting San Jose Sharks on Friday. Jeff Skinner, rookie D Justin Faulk and Jussi Jokinen scored for the Hurricanes, who had to rebound after blowing a two-goal lead. G Justin Peters made 35 saves for his first win of the season in his third start. Carolina is 8-2-4 in its last 14 games, but is 7-13-8 on the road this season. C Jiri Tlusty has points in six straight games and captain Eric Staal has points in four in a row.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (24-25-8): New York, which is 5-3-2 in its last 10 games, is coming off a 5-1 road loss to the St. Louis Blues. Frans Nielsen scored his 11th goal of the season just 59 seconds into the game but that’s all they could muster against All-Star G Brian Elliott. Al Montoya made 21 saves for the Islanders. The loss snapped New York's four-game road winning streak. The Islanders are last in the Atlantic Division and eight points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
OVERTIME:
1. The Islanders are 5-3-1 since the All-Star break and 8-4-2 in their last 14 games.
2. Tavares has 55 points on 131 of his team's goals (42 percent) this season.
3. Carolina G Cam Ward is 21-18-10 with three shutouts this season.