Islanders at Hurricanes
The New York Islanders' final season on Long Island begins Friday, when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes in a battle between the bottom two teams in the Metropolitan Division in 2013-14. New York looks to qualify for the postseason for just the second time in eight years as it begins its last campaign at Nassau Coliseum, which it has called home since joining the National Hockey League in 1972. The Islanders, whose sale from Charles Wang to businessmen Jonathan Ledecky and Scott Malkin was finalized this week, are slated to begin play at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in 2015-16.
Islander fans finally have reason for optimism as general manager Garth Snow upgraded at just about every position during the offseason, and budding superstar John Tavares is fully recovered from the knee injury he suffered during the 2014 Winter Olympics. Conversely, Carolina did very little to improve the on-ice product but did make front-office changes, hiring Ron Francis - the former face of the franchise - as general manager and Bill Peters as coach. Peters' first stint behind an NHL bench will be challenging to say the least, as the Hurricanes begin the season without two of their top forwards in Jordan Staal (leg) and Jeff Skinner (concussion) due to injuries.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New York), FSN Carolina
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (2013-14: 34-37-11, 8TH IN METROPOLITAN): Snow provided New York with a solid new goaltending tandem in Jaroslav Halak and backup Chad Johnson while adding Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk to the blue line. Those pickups were crucial as fellow defensemen Lubomir Visnovsky (back) and Calvin de Haan (upper body) begin the season on injured reserve. In addition to the return of Tavares, the team's group of forwards also was bolstered by the signings of three-time 20-goal scorer Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolay Kulemin, who netted 30 tallies for Toronto in 2010-11 but has recorded only 23 over the last three seasons.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (2013-14: 36-35-11, 7TH IN METROPOLITAN): Staal is expected to miss 3-4 months with a fractured right fibula, while Skinner is out indefinitely. A former Calder Trophy winner, Skinner led the team with 33 goals last season and finished second to captain Eric Staal (61) with 54 points. Defenseman Tim Gleason returns after being traded in January to Toronto, which bought out his contract five months later.
OVERTIME
1. The division rivals are playing a home-and-home series that concludes Saturday in New York.
2. Carolina is 16-3-4 in its last 23 meetings with the Islanders.
3. New York has earned points in 19 of its last 24 road games (17-5-2).