North Raleigh Today

The Carolina Hurricanes are set to face the New York Islanders on December 7, in a rematch of last season's first-round playoff matchup. The game will take place at 5:00 p.m. ET and can be watched on FanDuel Sports Network South or listened to on 99.9 The Fan.

Currently, the Hurricanes hold a record of 17-8-1, placing them third in the Metropolitan Division with 35 points. Their recent performance includes a victory over the Colorado Avalanche, where Andrei Svechnikov achieved his first career four-point game. Pyotr Kochetkov also contributed by making 16 saves.

The Islanders have struggled this season with a record of 9-11-7, ranking eighth in their division with 25 points. Offensively, they average just 2.48 goals per game and have a power-play conversion rate of only 11.8%.

Martin Necas continues to excel for the Hurricanes, having been named NHL's First Star of the Month for November. He leads all skaters with 41 points and has achieved multiple multi-point games this season.

Looking ahead, several Hurricanes players will participate in the inaugural Four Nations Face-Off next February. Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin will represent Canada and USA respectively, joining Sebastian Aho who was previously announced for Finland.

In terms of goaltending, Pyotr Kochetkov is expected to start against the Islanders after his recent performance against Colorado. Alternatively, newly signed Dustin Tokarski might make his debut.

Injury updates include Frederik Andersen undergoing knee surgery and Jesper Fast being ruled out for the season.

Following this match-up with the Islanders, Carolina will have an off day before facing San Jose Sharks on December 10.