CAROLINA HURRICANES (9-5-4-3, 25 pts.)
at
NEW YORK RANGERS (9-11-3-0, 21 pts.)
Monday, November 25 at 7:00 p.m. at Madison Square Garden

GAME NIGHT

The defending Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes travel to New York to take on the Rangers on Monday night. It is the final game of a three-game road trip that has taken Carolina to three Original Six cities as the Hurricanes fell to the Bruins 3-1 in Boston on Thursday and then defeated Montreal 7-3 on Saturday. Carolina scored five goals in the second period of Saturday night’s game, matching a franchise record for goals in a period on the road during the regular season. The Hurricanes had accomplished this feat only seven times previously -- most recently on Jan. 18, 1993 in an 8-7 loss vs. Winnipeg at Saskatoon. Carolina scored five goals in one period in a playoff game on the road on May 13, 2002 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at Montreal, an 8-2 victory. The franchise record for goals in a period is seven. Carolina netted seven goals in a 9-2 win against Quebec at home on April 4, 1980 and again on Oct. 19, 1985 in an 11-6 win against the Canadiens at home. All but three of the Hurricanes’ last 15 opponents participated in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Carolina has lost in regulation just twice during that stretch.
Hurricanes’ defensemen Sean Hill and Glen Wesley each registered three assists in the second period against Montreal, falling one short of the franchise record for assists by a defenseman in a period. Dave Babych earned four assists in the third period of a 7-1 victory at Buffalo on Oct. 26, 1988. Captain Ron Francis has five points (4g, 1a) in his last six games after tallying his 1,100th point with the franchise against Ottawa on November 19. With his goal at Montreal, Francis tied Pat Verbeek for 23rd on the NHL’s all-time goals scored list.

PRACTICE TIMES

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.
Nov. 28	Thursday	RBC Centre	TBA
Nov. 29	Friday	RBC Centre	10:30 a.m.
Nov. 30	Saturday	Nationwide Arena	11:30 a.m.

ON THE AIR
Television: Fox Sports Net (NC only)
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
Erik Cole notched his second career hat trick and second career shorthanded goal at Montreal on Saturday. Cole has six points (3g, 3a) in his last three games and is now tied for third on the team in scoring with 13 points (6g, 7a). On Saturday, netminder Arturs Irbe made his first start since Oct. 23 at Ottawa and earned his first victory of the 2002-03 season. The Hurricanes exploded with three power-play goals against the Canadiens, the most they have scored this season. Carolina has won 804-of-1427 (56.3%) faceoffs through 21 games this season, ranking first in the NHL through games of Nov. 23.

CAROLINA AT HOME: 6-2-4-2
CAROLINA ON THE ROAD: 3-3-0-1
CAROLINA ON THE POWER PLAY: 21-of-133 (15.8%)
CAROLINA SHORTHANDED: 100-of-115 (87.0%)

CAROLINA INJURY UPDATE
Josef Vasicek missed the game vs. Montreal (11/23) due to back spasms. He is day-to-day. Sami Kapanen missed the game vs. Montreal (11/23) due to a groin injury. He is day-to-day.

CAROLINA / NEW YORK NOTES
The Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers meet tonight for the second of four matchups this season. The Rangers defeated Carolina 4-1 at RBC Center in the season opener on Oct. 9. Carolina is 3-1-1 overall when opening the regular season against the Rangers. Rod Brind’Amour and Bates Battaglia are Carolina’s leading scorers against the Rangers this season. Brind’Amour tallied the Hurricanes only goal assisted by Battaglia.
The Hurricanes won the regular season series against the Rangers last season 3-1-0. The Hurricanes defeated the Rangers in last season’s opener in Raleigh, 3-1. The team defeated the Rangers 8-2 on Oct. 12, 1985 and 2-0 on Oct. 7, 1995 in home openers. The Hurricanes also defeated the Rangers 3-2 on Nov. 2 in Raleigh and 4-3 in overtime on Dec. 10 at MSG. New York’s lone win against Carolina came on Nov. 29, 5-0. Sami Kapanen led the Hurricanes in goals (4) and points (5) against the Rangers last season. Arturs Irbe was 2-0 with a 1.50 goals against average and a .953 save percentage against New York in 2001-02. The Rangers lead the series with the Hurricanes 39-36-6 overall and 24-14-3 at MSG. Carolina leads the series at home 22-14-3.

RANGERS NOTES
The Rangers fell to the New York Islanders 3-1 on Saturday, Nov. 23. Tom Poti is tied for sixth in the league in points among defenseman with 16 (3g, 13a) and is New York’s leading scorer. The Rangers are 5-3-1-0 in their last nine games despite a two-game winless streak (0-1-1-0). Goaltender Daniel Blackburn has started eight consecutive games due to Mark Richter’s concussion. Blackburn has a 4-3-1-0 record over that span. Petr Nedved has registered a point in six of the last seven games (3g, 5a) and in seven of the last nine (4g, 5a).

SCORING LEADERS AND GOALTENDERS

HURRICANES
	GP	G	A	TP
17 Brind'Amour	21	9	10	19
92 O'Neill	21	6	11	17
10 Francis	21	8	5	13
26 Cole	21	6	7	13
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
1 Irbe	4	3.94	1-3-0	.863
80 Weekes	18	1.93	8-5-4	.935
RANGERS
	GP	G	A	TP
3 Poti	23	3	13	16
9 Bure	20	8	6	14
93 Nedved	23	8	6	14
11 Messier	23	10	3	13
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
31 Blackburn	12	3.02	4-5-2	.900
35 Richter	13	2.94	5-6-1	.897