CAROLINA HURRICANES (12-7-4-3, 31 pts.)
at
FLORIDA PANTHERS (7-8-6-4, 24 pts.)
Wednesday, December 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Office Depot Center

GAME NIGHT

The defending Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes travel to Florida to take on the Panthers at Office Depot Center. Carolina and Florida will meet again in two days at RBC Center. The Hurricanes defeated Nashville at Gaylord Entertainment Center 2-1 on Tuesday night. Carolina has now won three consecutive games and four of the last five. Carolina is in the midst of four consecutive sets of back-to-back games. The Hurricanes are 7-2-0-0 in back-to-back games with a 5-0-0-0 record in the front half and a 2-2-0-0 record in the back half of back-to-back games. Carolina plays a total of 19 sets of back-to-back games this season. Carolina has lost just four times in regulation in its last 21 games. All but six of the Hurricanes' last 21 opponents participated in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Second-year forward Erik Cole notched the game-winner Tuesday night at Columbus and now has 11 points (7g, 4a) in the last eight games. Cole was named a runner-up for NHL Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 23-29, totaling seven points (4g, 3a) and registering a (+5) rating in three games. The BBC line of Rod Brind’Amour, Bates Battaglia, and Cole continues to drive the Hurricanes’ offense with 26 points (12g, 14a) in eight games. Carolina captain Ron Francis scored his 523rd career NHL goal against Columbus on Saturday, surpassing Pat Verbeek for 23rd on the NHL’s all-time list. Francis will tie Bryan Trottier (524) for 22nd all-time in goal scoring with his next goal. Francis has tallied five points (1g, 4a) in the last four games.

PRACTICE TIMES

Dec. 4	Wednesday	National Car Rental Center	11:30 a.m.
Dec. 5	Thursday	RBC Center	TBA
Dec. 6	Friday	RBC Center	10:30 a.m.
Dec. 7	Saturday	Corel Centre	11:30 a.m.
Dec. 8	Sunday	RecZone	11:45 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
Carolina defeated Nashville for the first time ever at Gaylord Entertainment Center last night. Rod Brind’Amour has tallied 28 points (12g, 16a) in 43 games in his career against the Florida Panthers. Brind’Amour continues to lead the Hurricanes with 25 points (11g, 14a) in 26 games this season.

CAROLINA AT HOME: 7-3-4-2
CAROLINA ON THE ROAD: 5-4-0-1
CAROLINA ON THE POWER PLAY: 30-of-163 (18.4%)
CAROLINA SHORTHANDED: 125-of-144 (86.8%)

CAROLINA INJURY UPDATE
Josef Vasicek missed the game at Nashville (12/3) due to back spasms. He is day-to-day. Kevin Weekes missed the game at Nashville (12/3) due to a concussion. He was placed on Injured Reserve on Nov. 29. Sami Kapanen left the game at Nashville (12/3) with a groin injury. He is day-to-day.

CAROLINA / FLORIDA NOTES
The Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers meet tonight for the first of five matchups this season. The Southeast Division rivals will meet twice in Raleigh and three times in Sunrise during the 2002-03 season. 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 17-14-9-0 all-time against the Panthers, with a 10-8-2-0 record at home and a 7-6-7-0 record at Florida.

PANTHERS NOTES
Florida has had three days to rest and prepare for Carolina. The Panthers last played Sat. Nov. 30, a 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Center Olli Jokinen leads the Panthers in scoring and is tied for tenth in the league with 27 points (12g, 15a) through games of Dec. 2. Florida is 12-of-56 (21.4%) on the power-play at home this season and ranks seventh in the league through Dec. 2.

SCORING LEADERS AND GOALTENDERS

HURRICANES
	GP	G	A	TP
17 Brind'Amour	26	11	14	25
92 O'Neill	26	7	13	20
10 Francis	26	9	9	18
26 Cole	26	9	8	17
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
1 Irbe	8	2.98	4-4-0	.890
80 Weekes	20	2.07	8-6-4	.931
PANTHERS
	GP	G	A	TP
12 Jokinen	25	12	15	27
22 Huselius	22	12	6	18
44 Ozolinsh	25	5	12	17
20 Bure	25	5	11	16
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
1 Luongo	16	3.35	4-9-1	.895
30 Hurme	13	2.46	3-3-5	.925