CAROLINA HURRICANES (17-25-6-5, 45 pts.)
at
SAN JOSE SHARKS (19-21-6-5, 49 pts.)
Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003, 10:00 p.m. at HP Pavilion

GAME NIGHT

The defending Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes travel to HP Pavilion to face San Jose at 10 p.m (ET) in the the first game of a four-game road swing. Wednesday’s game marks the Hurricanes’ 54th game of 2002-03 and first game since the NHL All-Star break. Hurricanes right wing Jeff O’Neill played for the Eastern Conference in his first NHL All-Star game on Sunday at Office Depot Center in Sunrise, Fla.

PRACTICE TIMES

Feb. 5	Wednesday	HP Pavillion	11:30 a.m.
Feb. 6	Thursday	HealthSouth (L.A.)	1 p.m.
Feb. 7	Friday	Staples Center	11:30 a.m.
Feb. 8	Saturday	HealthSouth (L.A.)	2 p.m.
Feb. 10	Monday	American Airlines Center	11 a.m.
Feb. 11	Tuesday	American Airlines Center	11:30 a.m.

ON THE AIR
Television: none
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
With his shorthanded goal against Toronto on Jan. 29, captain Ron Francis moved into a tie with Frank Mahovlich for 21st on the NHL's all-time goals-scored list (533).
Hurricanes winger Jeff O’Neill has seven goals in the last 15 games. His four-game goals streak (Jan. 3-8: 5g, 0a) was the longest this season by any Carolina player. O’Neill leads the team with 19 goals and 40 points. He ranked tied for sixth among all NHL players with six game-winning goals through games of Jan. 30. Josef Vasicek has three goals and two assists in the last five games.

CAROLINA AT HOME: 9-11-5-3
CAROLINA ON THE ROAD: 8-14-1-2
CAROLINA ON THE POWER PLAY: 45-of-289 (15.6%)
CAROLINA SHORTHANDED: 231-of-278(83.1%)

CAROLINA INJURY UPDATE
Left wing Erik Cole was placed on injured reserve after suffering a broken bone in his left leg, Jan. 30.
Defenseman David Tanabe is day-to-day and has missed one game with a shoulder injury.
Defenseman Glen Wesley is day-to-day and has missed three game due to a groin injury.
Center Rod Brind’Amour was placed on injured reserve Jan. 21 and has missed five games after hand surgery on Jan. 22.

CAROLINA / SAN JOSE NOTES
The Carolina Hurricanes and San Jose Sharks meet for the only time this season tonight at HP Pavilion. Last season the teams split a two-game series with each team winning at home. Carolina downed the Sharks 3-2 on Nov. 9, 2001 and San Jose returned the favor on Feb. 10, 2002, scoring a 4-0 win. The Hurricanes hold a 9-11-0-0 all-time record against the Sharks including a 5-5-0-0 home record and a 4-6-0-0 road mark. In 20 all-time meetings, the Sharks and the Hurricanes have never played an overtime game.

SHARKS NOTES
Center Patrick Marleau played in his 400th career game on Oct. 19 vs. Colorado, becoming the youngest current NHL player and the youngest player to reach the 400-game plateau since Bob Carpenter played in his 400th game on April 6, 1986 (22 years, 268 days old)… Marleau has four goals in the last four games vs. the Hurricanes…Former Shark goaltender Arturs Irbe has started 5 of the last 7 games against the Sharks…

SCORING LEADERS AND GOALTENDERS

HURRICANES
	GP	G	A	TP
92 O'Neill	53	19	21	40
17 Brind'Amour	48	14	23	37
10 Francis	53	19	17	36
26 Cole	53	14	13	27
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
1 Irbe	25	2.94	7-16-2	.889
80 Weekes	32	2.41	10-14-4	.920
SHARKS
	GP	G	A	TP
8 Selanne	51	21	22	43
12 Marleau	51	20	18	38
25 Damphousse	51	13	24	37
11 Nolan	48	18	14	32
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
20 Nabokov	39	2.60	15-18-6	.910
37 Kiprusoff	13	3.77	3-7-0	.853