CAROLINA HURRICANES (18-30-9-6, 51 pts.)*
vs.
WASHINGTON CAPITALS (30-25-7-3, 70 pts.)*
Sunday, March 2, 2003, 6 p.m. at MCI Center
* All statistics prior to Saturday's games

GAME NIGHT

The defending Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes wrap up a three-game road trip Sunday at Washington. The Hurricanes will travel to Washington following Saturday’s game in Toronto for Sunday evening’s match up against Washington and then return to Raleigh for practice at RBC Center on Monday.

PRACTICE TIMES

Mar. 1	Saturday	Air Canada Centre	11:30 a.m.
Mar. 2	Sunday	MCI Center	11:30 a.m.
Mar. 3	Monday	RBC Center	11 a.m.
Mar. 4	Tuesday	RBC Center	10:30 a.m.
Mar. 5	Wednesday	RBC Center	11 a.m.
Mar. 6	Thursday	Mellon Arena	11:30 a.m.
Mar. 7	Friday	RBC Center	10:30 a.m.

ON THE AIR
Television: none
Radio: WKIX 102.3 FM (Goldsboro); WKXU 101.1 FM (Raleigh); WDTF 570-AM (Raleigh); WMFD 630-AM (Wilmington); WDLZ 98.3-FM (Murfreesboro); WSJS 600-AM (Winston-Salem); WRUP 97.9-FM (New Bern/Morehead City); WSTK 910-AM (Jacksonville); WNMX 106.1 (Charlotte); WCNC 1240-AM (Elizabeth City); WZBO 1260-AM (Edenton)
Internet: www.nhl.com

CAROLINA NOTES
With his next goal, Hurricanes captain Ron Francis will pass Frank Mahovlich for sole possession of 21st on the all-time goals-scored list. On Wednesday in Phoenix, the 22-year NHL veteran played his 1,100th game for the Carolina franchise.
The Hurricanes begin their 16th back-to-back set of 2002-03 Saturday against Toronto before traveling to Washington to conclude the set on Sunday… Carolina is 11-15-3-1 in back-to-back games with a 7-7-1-0 record in the front half and a 4-8-2-1 record in the back half of back-to-back sets…The Hurricanes are 4-8-3-2 against the Southeast Division after scoring a 2-2 tie at home on Feb. 21 against Tampa Bay. Since the division was created, Carolina has a 44-23-23-3 record in 93 games against the Washington Capitals, Atlanta Thrashers, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Carolina rookies Tomas Kurka and Michael Zigomanis each scored goals in their respective NHL debuts on Wednesday making them the first duo to do so for the same team since Stanislav Chistov and Alexei Smirnov for Anaheim at St. Louis on Oct. 10, 2002.

CAROLINA AT HOME: 10-12-7-3
CAROLINA ON THE ROAD: 8-19-2-3
CAROLINA ON THE POWER PLAY: 50-of-331 (15.1%)
CAROLINA SHORTHANDED: 262-of-320 (81.9%)

CAROLINA INJURY UPDATE
Right wing Pavel Brendl, arthroscopic knee surgery, injured reserve, missed one game (Feb. 26)
Left wing Jaroslav Svoboda, shoulder, injured reserve, missed seven games (Feb. 14-26)
Right wing Jesse Boulerice, concussion, injured reserve, missed seven games (Feb. 14-26)
Right wing Jeff Heerema, wrist, injured reserve, missed nine games (Feb. 9-26)
Left wing Erik Cole, broken leg, injured reserve, missed 11 games (Feb. 5-26)
Center Rod Brind’Amour, hand surgery, injured reserve, missed 16 games (Jan. 22-Feb. 26)

CAROLINA / WASHINGTON NOTES
The Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals meet tonight in the fourth of five matchups this season. They will wrap the five-game divisional set on March 2 at MCI Center. The Capitals took the teams’ first game this year 2-1 on Oct. 17 at RBC Center and won again in Raleigh on Jan. 10, 4-1. On Jan. 22 at MCI Center, the Capitals won an eight-goal affair, 5-3. In the teams’ most recent meeting, Feb. 14 at RBC Center, Carolina triumphed 3-1. The Capitals won the regular-season series against the Hurricanes last season 2-1-2. Carolina’s lone win came on Nov. 8, 2001 at MCI Center, 3-2 on a game-winning goal by Jeff O’Neill in the third period. The teams tied on March 8, 2002 in Raleigh 2-2 and on Dec. 30, 2001 at the MCI Center 5-5. Washington took a 4-3 overtime victory in Raleigh on Dec. 2, 2001 and came away with a 6-2 victory at the MCI Center on Nov. 30, 2001. Sami Kapanen led Carolina with eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) against Washington. Ron Francis scored four goals in the five games. The Hurricanes are 28-47-13-1 in the all-time regular-season series against Washington. The Hurricanes are 15-21-9-1 against the Capitals at home and 13-26-4-0 in Washington.

CAPITALS NOTES
Center Robert Lang's assist on Jaromir Jagr's second-period goal Feb. 24 vs. Montreal marked his 50th point (17g-33a) of the season, giving him a fourth consecutive campaign with at least 50 points, while matching his season total of last year (18g-32a in 2001-02). The Capitals now have four players with at least 50 points this season (Jagr, Sergei Gonchar, Michael Nylander, Lang), joining the St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning as the only clubs to hold that distinction.

SCORING LEADERS AND GOALTENDERS

HURRICANES
	GP	G	A	TP
92 O'Neill	64	24	24	48
10 Francis	64	19	24	43
17 Brind'Amour	48	14	23	37
26 Cole	53	14	13	27
20 Hlavac	60	10	16	26
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
1 Irbe	28	3.10	7-18-2	.881
80 Weekes	41	2.49	11-19-7	.919
CAPITALS
	GP	G	A	TP
68 Jagr	64	34	35	69
55 Gonchar	65	14	39	53
20 Lang	65	17	35	52
92 Nylander	63	15	37	52
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
37 Kolzig	51	2.38	25-20-5	.921
35 Charpentier	12	2.61	4-5-1	.914