CAROLINA HURRICANES (8-5-4-3, 23 pts.)
at
MONTREAL CANADIENS (9-7-4-0, 22 pts.)
Saturday, November 23 at 7:00 p.m. at Bell Centre

GAME NIGHT

The defending Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes travel to Montreal to take on the Canadiens on Saturday night. It is the second game of a three-game road trip that will take Carolina to three Original Six cities as the Hurricanes fell to the Bruins 3-1 in Boston on Thursday and play at the New York Rangers on Monday. The loss was Carolina’s first in regulation since a 4-1 loss at Ottawa on October 23. The Hurricanes completed a franchise-record nine-game homestand with a record of 4-0-3-2, and have earned at least one point in 12 of their last 14 games (6-2-4-2). Carolina has lost in regulation just twice during that stretch. All but three of the Hurricanes’ last 14 opponents participated in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Hurricanes netminder Kevin Weekes is 7-3-4 in his last 14 games with a goals against average of 1.80 (26g, 866 min.) and a save percentage of .940 (26G, 436 SA). Captain Ron Francis has four points (3g, 1a) in his last five games after tallying his 1,100th point with the franchise against Ottawa on November 19. Francis is just one goal shy of tying Pat Verbeek for 23rd on the NHL’s all-time goals scored list.

PRACTICE TIMES

Nov. 23	Saturday	Bell Centre	11:30 a.m.
Nov. 24	Sunday	Chelsea Piers	2:30 p.m.
Nov. 25	Monday	Madison Square Garden	11:30 a.m.
Nov. 26	Tuesday	RBC Centre	TBA
Nov. 27	Wednesday	RBC Centre	10:30 a.m.

ON THE AIR
Television: Fox Sports Net (NC & SC)
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
The Hurricanes remain among the elite in the league in penalty kills. Carolina has been successful in 97-of-111 (87.4%) shorthanded situations this season and was ranked sixth in the NHL through games of Nov. 21. The Hurricanes’ remain two points behind the division-leading Lightning despite the loss to Boston because of a Tampa Bay loss Thursday night. Netminder Kevin Weekes remains among the league’s top goaltenders. Weekes is tied for second in save percentage at .935 (35G, 541 SA) through games of Nov. 21.

CAROLINA AT HOME: 6-2-4-2
CAROLINA ON THE ROAD: 2-3-0-1
CAROLINA ON THE POWER PLAY: 18-of-127 (14.2%)
CAROLINA SHORTHANDED: 97-of-111 (87.4%)

CAROLINA INJURY UPDATE
Josef Vasicek missed the game vs. Boston (11/21) due to back spasms. He is day-to-day. Sami Kapanen missed the game vs. Boston (11/21) due to a groin injury. He is day-to-day.

CAROLINA / MONTREAL NOTES
The Carolina Hurricanes and the Montreal Canadiens meet for the second of four matchups this season and the first of two games at Bell Centre. The first matchup between the two ended in a 2-2 tie at RBC Center. The two teams met in the 2002 Eastern Conference Semifinals, with the Hurricanes taking the series four games to two. Bates Battaglia established a Hurricanes franchise record for most points in a playoff series with 10 points (4g, 6a) in the six-game series against the Canadiens.
Carolina and Montreal split their four regular season matchups last season 1-1-2. The two teams played to a pair of 1-1 ties in Raleigh on Jan. 17 and March 18. Carolina came back from a pair of two-goal deficits to beat Montreal at the Molson Centre 4-3 on March 2. Jeff O’Neill scored the game-winner with 2:05 left in the game. Montreal defeated Carolina 3-2 on March 2. Oleg Petrov led all scorers in the regular season series with four points (1g, 3a). Sami Kapanen (3g, 0a) led all goal scorers in the series. The Canadiens lead the all-time regular season series 82-45-18 and are 35-28-11 on the road and 47-16-7-1 against the Hurricanes franchise at home.

CANADIENS NOTES
Montreal fell 3-2 at Ottawa on Thursday night before returning home to face Carolina. The Canadiens are in second place in the Northeast Division, behind the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins. Andrei Markov is tied for fourth in the NHL in scoring among defenseman with 15 points (5g, 10a) through games of Nov. 21. Center Saku Koivu leads the team in scoring with 18 points (8g, 10a). Koivu had a five-game point streak (4g, 4a) snapped at Ottawa.

SCORING LEADERS AND GOALTENDERS

HURRICANES
	GP	G	A	TP
17 Brind'Amour	20	9	8	17
92 O'Neill	20	5	11	16
10 Francis	20	7	5	12
26 Cole	20	3	6	9
21 Tanabe	18	2	7	9
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
1 Irbe	3	4.35	0-3-0	.833
80 Weekes	18	1.93	8-5-4	.935
CANADIENS
	GP	G	A	TP
11 Koivu	20	8	10	18
94 Perreault	20	9	7	16
79 Markov	20	5	10	15
20 Zednik	18	9	4	13
43 Brisebois	20	3	10	13
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
31 Hackett	10	2.47	5-2-2	.929
60 Theodore	11	3.29	4-5-2	.892