CAROLINA HURRICANES (22-41-11-6, 61 pts.)
at
FLORIDA PANTHERS (23-35-13-9, 68 pts.)
Friday, April 4, 2003, 7:30 p.m. at Office Depot Center

GAME NIGHT

The Carolina Hurricanes wrap up their 2002-03 road schedule on Friday at Florida’s Office Depot Center. Following Friday’s game the Hurricanes return to Raleigh for the season finale against the New York Islanders on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the RBC Center.

PRACTICE TIMES

Apr. 4	Friday	Office Depot Center	11:30 a.m.
Apr. 5	Saturday	RecZone	11:45 a.m.
Apr. 6	Sunday	RBC Center	TBA

ON THE AIR
Television: Fox Sports Net
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
Right wing Jeff O’Neill has 18 goals in the last 41 games and has earned points in 13 of the last 23 games (Feb. 14-April 2: 10g, 8a). O’Neill leads the team with 30 goals and 60 points. Left wing Ryan Bayda has totaled 13 points and 16 penalty minutes in his first 23 NHL games, including his first multiple-point game, March 4 vs. Boston (1g, 1a), and his first NHL game-winner, March 7 vs. Minnesota. Rookie defenseman Bruno St. Jacques notched his first NHL goal at Pittsburgh on March 6 and first NHL assist on March 10 against Columbus. St. Jacques added assists on the extra-attacker, tying goal and overtime goal on March 12 at Buffalo for his first NHL multiple-assist, multiple-point game.

CAROLINA AT HOME: 12-16-9-3
CAROLINA ON THE ROAD: 10-25-2-3
CAROLINA ON THE POWER PLAY: 58-of-409 (14.2%)
CAROLINA SHORTHANDED: 315-of-386 (81.6%)

CAROLINA INJURY UPDATE
Center Kevyn Adams, abdominal strain, day-to-day, missed five games (March 25-April 2)
Goaltender Patrick DesRochers, broken elbow, indefinite, missed six games (March 22-April 2)
Left wing Jan Hlavac, broken finger, indefinite, missed 15 games (March 2-April 2)
Right wing Pavel Brendl, arthroscopic knee surgery, injured reserve, missed 17 games (Feb. 26-April 2)
Left wing Jaroslav Svoboda, dislocated shoulder, injured reserve, missed 23 games (Feb. 14-April 2)
Right wing Jesse Boulerice, concussion, injured reserve, missed 23 games (Feb. 14-April 2)
Right wing Jeff Heerema, broken wrist, injured reserve, missed 25 games (Feb. 9-April 2)
Left wing Erik Cole, broken leg, injured reserve, missed 27 games (Feb. 5-April 2)
Center Rod Brind’Amour, hand surgery, injured reserve, missed 31 games (Jan. 22-April 2)

CAROLINA / FLORIDA NOTES
The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers meet for the fifth and final time this season on Friday at Office Depot Center. Florida notched an overtime victory against the Hurricanes in the teams’ last meeting, Jan. 25 in Sunrise. The Hurricanes took the teams’ third meeting on Jan. 24 at the RBC Center as Erik Cole, Niclas Wallin and Josef Vasicek each scored for Carolina. Carolina won last season’s series with a 4-0-1-0 record. The Hurricanes were 2-0-1-0 at home in 2001-02 earning wins on Dec. 12 (4-1) and March 21 (3-2) and a tie on Jan. 25 (1-1). Carolina was 2-0-0-0 at Florida defeating the Panthers on Dec. 8 (3-2) and April 12 (3-1). Ron Francis, Bates Battaglia, Rod Brind’Amour, and Martin Gelinas led Carolina with four points each. The Hurricanes are 18-16-9-1 all-time against the Panthers, with a 11-9-2-0 record at home and a 7-7-7-1 record at Florida.

SCORING LEADERS AND GOALTENDERS

HURRICANES
	GP	G	A	TP
92 O'Neill	80	30	30	60
10 Francis	80	22	33	55
17 Brind'Amour	48	14	23	37
19 Vrbata	74	16	19	35
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
1 Irbe	32	3.20	7-22-2	.879
80 Weekes	51	2.55	14-24-9	.912
FLORIDA
	GP	G	A	TP
12 Jokinen	79	35	29	64
25 Kozlov	72	22	32	54
22 Huselius	76	20	22	42
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
1 Luongo	64	2.74	19-34-7	.918
30 Hurme	27	2.74	4-10-6	.910