Hurricanes at Devils preview

HURRICANES (15-16-5) at DEVILS (13-16-7)
1 p.m. ET; SN, MSG+, FS-CR, NHL.TV

The left wing, who won the Hart Trophy last season, is day to day with a lower-body injury that held him out of New Jersey's 5-2 win against the Boston Bruins on Thursday. He leads the Devils with 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) in 33 games this season.
The Devils are 2-1-0 in their past three games and scored five goals in each of the two wins after losing 11 of their previous 13 (2-6-5).
The Hurricanes are 2-5-1 in their past eight games and have scored one goal or fewer in three of their past five. They won their previous matchup against the Devils this season, 2-1 at PNC Arena on Nov.18.

Players to watch

Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past two games and 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in his past nine.
Devils forward Nico Hischier has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past three games. He had one goal and one assist against the Bruins on Thursday.

They said it

"We have to do what we do. We have some high-end players that need to make plays. That's what it comes down to every night." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour
"The big thing with Carolina is you have to defend the scoring area really well. You can do that by not allowing the puck to get there." -- Devils coach John Hynes

Hurricanes projected lineup

Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Micheal Ferland -- Clark Bishop -- Justin Williams
Warren Foegele -- Lucas Wallmark -- Jordan Martinook
Janne Kuokkanen -- Victor Rask -- Brock McGinn
Jaccob Slavin -- Brett Pesce
Calvin de Haan -- Justin Faulk
Trevor van Riemsdyk -- Dougie Hamilton
Petr Mrazek
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Phillip Di Giuseppe
Injured:Haydn Fleury (concussion), Jordan Staal (upper body)

Devils projected lineup

Jesper Bratt -- Nico Hischier -- Kyle Palmieri
Miles Wood -- Travis Zajac -- Blake Coleman
John Quenneville -- Pavel Zacha -- Stefan Noesen
Brian Boyle -- Brett Seney -- Drew Stafford
Andy Greene -- Damon Severson
Sami Vatanen -- Steven Santini
Will Butcher -- Ben Lovejoy
Mackenzie Blackwood
Keith Kinkaid
Scratched:Egor Yakovlev, Mirco Mueller
Injured: Taylor Hall (lower body), Cory Schneider (abdominal strain), Marcus Johansson (upper body), Joey Anderson (broken ankle)

Status report

Fleury skated with the Hurricanes on Friday but is unlikely to play Saturday. ... Bratt replaced Hall on the first line with Hischier and Palmieri on Thursday and is expected to stay there with Hall out again Saturday.

Stat pack

If Mrazek starts, it would be his 200th NHL game. He is 84-72-25 with a 2.65 goals-against average and .910 save percentage in his first 199. ... The Devils have won six of their past eight games against the Hurricanes (6-2-0).