The Hurricanes are just a single point behind the Devils in the Eastern Conference standings. New Jersey holds the first wild-card spot, while the Hurricanes hold the second.
"They're important games," Taylor Hall said. "If you look at the standings and where we're at and where Carolina is at, it's going to be a four-game series that probably decides a lot at the end of the season. We know how they are, they play hard and they play fast. We're pretty similar teams how we play. We have to be ready."
Every game is important down the final stretch of the season, with just 26 games left on the schedule. The Devils and Hurricanes will meet three times over the next 16 days, and once again at the end of March, creating what Andy Greene called a "mini-series."
"It's huge," Greene said. "Obviously it's the first time we get to play each other, which is kind of strange. We have four games against them here over the next month or so. It's going to be huge. This mini-series against them can really help us or hurt us in the playoff chase."
Coach John Hynes will not change a winning lineup, sticking to one that pulled out an overtime victory against the Flyers on Tuesday night. Keith Kinkaid will start in net. He has strong 4-1-0 record against the Hurricanes in his career, and has won a career-high 11 games this season.
Injured forwards Brian Boyle (shoulder) and John Quenneville (knee) were not on the ice for morning skate and will not be in the lineup. Boyle skated on his own Thursday morning.
The lineup against the Hurricanes is expected to look as follows:
Hall-Hischier-Palmieri
Bratt-Zacha-Lappin
Wood-Zajac-Noesen
Hayes-Coleman-Stafford
Greene-Vatanen
Moore-Severson
Butcher-Lovejoy
Kinkaid
