Hurricanes Look To Enter Break on 5 Game Streak

The Carolina Hurricanes last game before the break sees them take on the new look New Jersey Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk.  The Devils are competing for 2nd in the Eastern Conference.   The Devils have won the only two meetings this season in Newark 2-0 and 4-2, both games were stolen by Martin Brodeur.  The Hurricanes are one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now winning eight or their last ten games including four in a row and five in a row at home.  Devils are 2-3 since trading for Kovalchuk and are also looking to end the pre-Olympic break with a win.

The Devils are looking for Kovalchuk to really produce and bring a real scoring threat to a defensive team in the playoffs.  In the Devils last game Kovalchuk finally scored his first goal as a Devil.  “A game breaker is important and Ilya did it today for us,” Brodeur said. “Other players will do it once in a while but that’s why we brought him in. Today he was and that’s going to jumpstart everybody.”  Travis Zajac has goals in consecutive games for New Jersey and has collected five goals and five assists in his last eight. Zach Parise missed a game earlier this week due to an upper-body injury, but has also scored in each of the last two he’s played.  The Devils look to have that good feeling going into the break tonight after only winning three games in the last ten.

The Hurricanes will give Justin Peters another start tonight as the Hurricanes look for their fifth straight and their first game without Matt Cullen.  With the Hurricanes being without Cullen the fans will get their first look at defenseman Alexandre Picard.  Picard has 4 goals and 11 assists with the Ottawa Senators.  When asked about the trade Picard had this to say.  “I was pretty excited,” Picard said. “It has been a rough couple of weeks here in Ottawa for me. Didn’t get to play much. So obviously I was pretty happy to go to a team where they wanted me and I’ll get a chance to play.”  Picard had been a highly coveted player, but has not lived up to the potential so far.  If the Hurricanes are to win tonight the power play has to continue to stay on fire, despite the loss of Cullen.  “It’s a long season, and you can’t count yourself out until you’re mathematically counted out,” veteran goalie Manny Legace said. “We struggled through Christmas, but I really do think it was a jelling period and now the guys are starting to come together and playing like a team every single night. This is the way we can play. This has been great to watch.”The also have to make sure not to let Kovalchuk kill you.  Kovalchuk always seems to be at his best when play the Hurricanes.

News & Notes:  Kovalchuk has 58 points in 47 games against Carolina, by far the most against any team

Justin Peters is making his second NHL start tonight after a 3-1 win last week against the Islanders

Injuries:    NJD  David Clarkson

NJD  Paul Martin

CAR  Chad LaRose

CAR  Erik Cole

CAR  Scott Walker

CAR  Cam Ward

Prediction CAR 3 NJD 2 F/OT