Devils at Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes put their 11-game home point streak on the line when they host the Metropolitan Division-rival New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. Carolina has gone 10-0-1 at PNC Arena since dropping a 4-2 decision to Anaheim on Nov. 10, a streak that was extended with Friday's 3-2 triumph over Chicago.
"We're enjoying it," Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward told reporters after that victory. "We're having fun. It's exciting to come to the rink and play." New Jersey, which posted a 3-0 home win over Boston on Monday, ended a lengthy slide on the road with a 2-1 shootout triumph in Washington on Thursday. The Devils had gone 0-5-1 in their previous six away from home and lost 10 of 12 overall (2-9-1) prior to blanking the Bruins behind a 22-save performance by Cory Schneider. New Jersey looks to remain unbeaten against the Hurricanes this season after posting a 4-1 win at Carolina on Nov. 6 and completing a sweep of the home-and-home series two days later with a 3-2 shootout triumph.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New Jersey), FSN Southeast (Carolina)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (15-16-7): Taylor Hall regained the team scoring lead Monday, returning from a two-game absence with a lower-body injury to register a goal and an assist and increase his point total to 25 — one better than Travis Zajac. Steven Santini made his season debut against Boston after being recalled from Albany of the American Hockey League to replace fellow defenseman John Moore, who was placed on injured reserve with a concussion, and recorded his first point (assist) in his second career game. Center Reid Boucher, who notched a pair of assists in nine games with New Jersey earlier this season, is back with the organization after being claimed off waivers from Nashville — for whom he scored one goal in three contests after being acquired in the same fashion Dec. 2.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (16-13-7): Coach Bill Peters made a dream come true during Saturday's 3-1 loss at Tampa Bay, inserting equipment manager Jorge Alves — who was signed to a tryout contract earlier in the day to serve as Ward's backup after Eddie Lack came down with an illness — into the game with 7.6 seconds remaining in the third period. "When I did realize it was going to happen, it was kind of disbelief," the 37-year-old Alves told reporters afterward. "For years, it's always been kind of a joke around the locker room that I might go in. That was an amazing experience." Elias Lindholm, whose tally in Friday's win over the Blackhawks gave him two goals and two assists in his last three games, is questionable to face New Jersey as he exited the contest versus Chicago with an upper-body injury and also missed the meeting with the Lightning the following night.
OVERTIME
1. Devils RW PA Parenteau has scored six of his team-high 11 goals over his last 10 games.
2. Carolina rookie RW Sebastian Aho has collected three goals and four assists over his last eight contests.
3. New Jersey is 4-for-47 on the power play over its last 12 games.