Carolina Hurricanes at Atlanta Thrashers preview

Posted Saturday, March 3, 2007

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Raleigh, NC - The Carolina Hurricanes make their fourth and final visit to Atlanta's Philips Arena for a Sunday matinee against the Thrashers (2 p.m., Hurricanes Radio Network). The Hurricanes enter Sunday's play with 73 points, three points behind the Thrashers for second place in the Southeast Division standings. Nine of Carolina's final 15 regular-season games are against Southeast Division opponents with two games against Atlanta, three against Florida, two against division-leader Tampa Bay and two against Washington.

Carolina Hurricanes at Atlanta Thrashers

Sunday, March 4, 2 p.m. (ET)

Philips Arena * Atlanta, GA

Hurricanes: 33-27-7 (73 pts.), 3rd Southeast Division; 8th Eastern Conference

Thrashers: 33-23-10 (76 pts.), 2nd Atlantic Division; 6th Eastern Conference

* Standings through NHL games of March 2

MILESTONE WATCH

Left wing Cory Stillman played his 100th Hurricanes game, March 2 vs. Pittsburgh

Defenseman Frantisek Kaberle is two games shy of 400 NHL games played

Defenseman Glen Wesley is two assists shy of 400 for his NHL career

CURRENT STREAKS

None

Television: none

Radio: Hurricanes Radio Network - WWMY 102.9 FM (Raleigh - flagship), Pirate Radio - WGHB 1250 AM and WDLX 930 AM (Greenville, NC... check listings for games), News Talk Radio WFNC 640 AM (Fayetteville, NC... Saturdays and Sundays), WWNB 1490 AM (New Bern, NC... check listings for games)

Carolina Notes

* The Hurricanes enter Sunday's play with 73 points, trailing Tampa Bay and Atlanta (76 points) in the Southeast Division standings. Following Friday's win against Pittsburgh, the Hurricanes held the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference standings, tied in points with the NY Islanders, one point ahead of Montreal and two points ahead of Toronto, all of whom played on Saturday.

· Left wing Ray Whitney has earned points in 18 of Carolina's last 24 games, scoring 11 goals and earning 18 assists (29 points) dating back to Jan. 6. Whitney picked up multiple assists in four of those games, earning two helpers on Jan. 6 against the NY Islanders, Jan. 9 at Toronto and Feb. 8 at Boston, and three assists on Jan. 26 against Washington.

* It is impossible to divide the 82-game NHL schedule into perfect thirds, but when looking at the first 27 games of the season, Carolina went 14-10-3. In the next 28 games (games 28-55), the Hurricanes posted a 12-12-4 record, and the team has started the final third of the season 7-5-0 (27 games; games 56-82).

* While the Hurricanes have won just eight games in their last 19 outings, the team has won seven of its last 12 games and earned points in 15 of its last 24 games, going 12-9-3 since Jan. 6, and earning 27 of a possible 48 points in that span.

* The Hurricanes' penalty kill has not allowed a power-play goal in seven straight games, going 24-for-24 since Feb. 17.

 

CAROLINA SHORTHANDED: 279-of-333 (83.8%)

INJURY REPORT

Defenseman Bret Hedican, lower body, day-to-day, missed one game

Winger Erik Cole, muscle tear, injured reserve, out 3-4 weeks, missed six games

 

*All times are local... Times and locations subject to change

AGAINST THE THRASHERS

Saturday marks the seventh of eight 2006-07 regular-season meetings between the Hurricanes and the Thrashers, and the third of three games in a 12-day span between the Southeast Division rivals. The Hurricanes took the teams' first meeting at Atlanta on Oct. 13, a 4-3 regulation win on Ray Whitney's last-second goal. Carolina and Atlanta went to overtime in their second meeting on Oct. 25 at the RBC Center before Hurricanes defenseman Anton Babchuk broke the 4-4 tie 1:11 into the extra frame. The Hurricanes scored a 5-2 win at Philips Arena on Nov. 1 before Atlanta took a 4-3 shootout win at the RBC Center on Jan. 13. The Thrashers scored a 3-1 win at the RBC Center on Feb. 20 before Carolina scored a 4-1 win in the teams' most recent meeting, Feb. 24 at Philips Arena.

Last season, the Hurricanes posted a 4-4-0 record in eight games against the Thrashers, scoring two wins at home and two on the road, including one in overtime. Justin Williams (4g, 5a) and Rod Brind'Amour (1g, 8a) led all Hurricanes scorers in the eight-game season series while Ilya Kovalchuk paced the Thrashers with 12 points (9g, 3a). The Hurricanes post a 26-8-5-1 all-time record against the Thrashers, including a 13-5-2 home mark and a 13-3-3-1 record at Philips Arena.