CAROLINA HURRICANES (9-7-4-3, 25 pts.)
at
DETROIT RED WINGS (12-6-3-1, 28 pts.)
Friday, November 29 at 7:00 p.m. at the RBC Center

GAME NIGHT

The defending Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes host the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings in a rematch of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals. The Hurricanes fell to the Vancouver Canucks at RBC Center 3-2 on Wednesday after returning from a three-game road trip. Friday's game against Detroit is the first half of Carolina's fourth of 19 sets of back-to-back games this season. The Hurricanes travel to Columbus after the game to take on the Blue Jackets on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena. Carolina has lost just four times in regulation in its last 18 games. All but four of the Hurricanes' last 18 opponents participated in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Hurricanes captain Ron Francis has six points (4g, 2a) in his last eight games after tallying his 1,100th point with the franchise against Ottawa on November 19. With his goal at Montreal last Saturday, Francis tied Pat Verbeek for 23rd on the NHL's all-time goals scored list. Winger Erik Cole was named a runner-up for NHL Player of the Week last week, totaling seven points (4g, 3a) and registering a (+5) rating in three games. Craig Adams will play in his 100th career NHL game with his next game played.

PRACTICE TIMES

Nov. 29	Friday	RBC Centre	10:30 a.m.
Nov. 30	Saturday	Nationwide Arena	11:30 a.m.
Dec. 1	Sunday	RBC Center	TBA
Dec. 2	Monday	RBC Center	TBA

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 are currently in their fourth of 19 sets of back-to-back games this season. Carolina is 4-2-0-0 in back-to-back games with a 3-0-0-0 record in the front half and a 1-2-0-0 record in the back half of back-to-back games. The Hurricanes were 15-16-3 in back-to-back games in 2000-01, with a record of 8-6-3 in the first games and 7-10-0 in the second games.

CAROLINA AT HOME: 6-3-4-2
CAROLINA ON THE ROAD: 3-4-0-1
CAROLINA ON THE POWER PLAY: 23-of-146 (15.8%)
CAROLINA SHORTHANDED: 112-of-129 (86.8%)

CAROLINA INJURY UPDATE
Josef Vasicek missed the game against Vancouver (11/27) due to back spasms. He is day-to-day.

CAROLINA / DETROIT NOTES
The Carolina Hurricanes and the Red Wings meet tonight for their only matchup this season. Detroit won the regular season series against Carolina last season 2-0-0-0. The Red Wings defeated the Hurricanes 5-2 in Raleigh on Oct. 30, 2001, and 4-3 in Detroit on Nov. 13, 2001. The two teams also met in the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals, with the Red Wings taking the series four games to one. The Hurricanes are 23-27-7-1 all-time in the regular season against the Red Wings, including a 16-11-1-0 mark at home and a 7-16-6-1 record in Detroit.

RED WINGS NOTES
The Stanley Cup champion Red Wings currently lead the Central Division with 28 points. Center Sergei Fedorov is tied for third in the league in goal scoring with 13 goals and leads the NHL in game-winning goals with six. Fedorov is second in the league in shots taken with 99.

SCORING LEADERS AND GOALTENDERS

HURRICANES
	GP	G	A	TP
17 Brind'Amour	23	10	11	21
92 O'Neill	23	6	12	18
10 Francis	23	8	6	14
26 Cole	23	6	7	13
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
1 Irbe	5	3.74	1-4-0	.866
80 Weekes	19	1.99	8-6-4	.933
RED WINGS
	GP	G	A	TP
91 Fedorov	22	13	9	22
5 Lidstrom	22	7	11	18
17 Hull	22	7	10	17
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
34 Legace	7	2.13	4-2-0	.927
31 Joseph	16	2.34	8-5-3	.911