Panthers at Hurricanes preview

PANTHERS (8-8-3) at HURRICANES (10-8-3)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, FS-F, NHL.TV

Hoffman has 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) during his 17-game point streak, the longest of his NHL career and the longest in the League this season.
Florida is 1-3-0 in its past four games following a five-game winning streak. Goalie Roberto Luongo will start; he's 16-15-4 against Carolina with a 2.34 goals-against average and .929 save percentage.
Goalie Curtis McElhinney will make his third straight start for the Hurricanes after making 30 saves in a 5-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
Carolina, going for its third consecutive victory, is 4-1-1 in its past six games after a five-game losing streak (0-4-1).

Players to watch

Panthers center Aleksander Barkov has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past eight games.
Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"I prefer [Nick Bjugstad] on the wing, but I had a good talk with him this morning. Somebody's got to step up, and why not be him? Thrive in that [center] role. He's familiar with it and he's a big strong guy down low. We're looking for him to steady that line a little bit." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner on replacing injured center Vincent Trocheck
"It seems like every team you play now has three or four high-end players. You can't afford to give them the opportunities. At the same time, you've got to play on your toes and go. But you don't want to have turnovers to those guys." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour

Panthers projected lineup

Evgenii Dadonov -- Aleksander Barkov -- Mike Hoffman
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Nick Bjugstad -- Denis Malgin
Frank Vatrano -- Jared McCann -- Troy Brouwer
Dryden Hunt -- Juho Lammikko -- Colton Sceviour
Mike Matheson -- Aaron Ekblad
Keith Yandle -- Mark Pysyk
Bogdan Kiselevich -- MacKenzie Weegar
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched: Alexander Petrovic, Micheal Haley
Injured: Vincent Trocheck (ankle surgery), Derek MacKenzie (upper body)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Micheal Ferland -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Brock McGinn -- Jordan Staal -- Justin Williams
Jordan Martinook -- Lucas Wallmark -- Andrei Svechnikov
Warren Foegele -- Victor Rask -- Phillip Di Giuseppe
Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton
Calvin de Haan -- Justin Faulk
Haydn Fleury -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Curtis McElhinney
Scott Darling
Scratched: None
Injured:Petr Mrazek (lower body), Brett Pesce (knee)

Status report

The Panthers will conclude a six-game road trip (2-3-0). … Mrazek and Pesce each participated in Carolina's morning skate. … The Hurricanes are 3-1-1 entering the final game of a six-game homestand.

Stat pack

Yandle has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in his past 12 games. … Dadonov has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in his past 17 games with point in 15 of 17. … The Panthers have scored at least one power-play goal in each of the past 10 games. … Huberdeau needs one goal for 100 in the NHL. … Teravainen is playing in his 300th NHL game.