Florida @ Carolina preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 23, 2019 ) Florida 2, Carolina 4

The Carolina Hurricanes could not have asked for much more from a difficult five-game road trip and look to add another win before hopping on a plane again when they host the Florida Panthers on Saturday night. The Hurricanes went 3-0-1 in the first four games through Western Canada before capping the trek with a 3-1 victory over red-hot Colorado on Thursday to extend their point streak to seven games (6-0-1).

Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said his team is building something and told reporters: “I can’t say enough about these guys, really. We just dug in. All year, really. Even when we’ve had bad periods, we always seem to bounce back.” The Hurricanes will have to cool off Noel Acciari and Jonathan Huberdeau to extend their point streak after the two Florida forwards combined for 15 points as the Panthers won the final two contests on their nine-game homestand to finish with a winning record during the stretch (5-4-0). Acciari matched Hall of Famer Pavel Bure’s Florida record (2001) with his second consecutive hat trick in Friday’s 7-4 victory over Dallas and Huberdeau posted four points in two straight contests to push his team-leading total to 45. The Hurricanes have won five in a row against the Panthers, including the first two of three meetings this season with left wing Teuvo Teravainen recording five points and defenseman Dougie Hamilton (199 career assists) scoring twice while setting up another.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Florida, FS Carolinas

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (17-12-5): Huberdeau scored once in the last two games, but increased his assist total to 33 in 34 outings, and captain Aleksander Barkov helped set up two goals Friday to reach 39 points - second on the team. Defenseman Keith Yandle (98 career goals) has three assists in the past three games and ranks third on the team with 29 points while center Vincent Trocheck had three points Friday and owns a plus-6 rating over the past four contests. Sergei Bobrovsky (13-9-4) started the final seven games of the homestand - winning four of them and registering a .943 save percentage.

ABOUT THE HURRICANES (22-11-2): Andrei Svechnikov scored in each of the last two games and tops the club with 36 points - one more than Teravainen, who has collected nine assists in his last six contests. Center Sebastian Aho (99 career goals) owns a team-high 21 goals, including eight to go along with four assists in his past six outings, while Hamilton registered six of his 34 points his last five games to tie Aho for third on the team. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin scored his third game-winning goal of the season Thursday and boasts 19 points along with a plus-19 rating - second on the club behind Hamilton (plus-23).

OVERTIME

1. Acciari, a free-agent signing who scored six goals in 72 games with Boston last season, has 11 in 31 contests in 2019-20.

2. Carolina G Petr Mrazek (14-6-2, 2.54 goals-against average) has recorded a point in four straight starts (3-0-1), allowing eight goals.

3. The Hurricanes are fifth in the league on the power play (23.6 percent) and the Panthers sit eighth (22.0).

PREDICTION: Hurricanes 4, Panthers 3