Hurricanes at Panthers preview

PANTHERS (28-25-10) at HURRICANES (35-23-6)
7 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-CR, NHL.TV

Carolina is third in the Metropolitan Division, one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets, after a 5-2 victory against the St. Louis Blues on Friday.
Goalie Petr Mrazek is expected to start for the Hurricanes, who are 7-1-0 in their past eight games and 12-3-1 in their past 16.
The Panthers, who trail Columbus by nine points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, have lost two straight games in a shootout (4-3 at the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday and 6-5 at the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.)
Florida has scored 34 goals while going 5-1-2 in its past eight games.

Players to watch

Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho has 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in his past 21 games.
Panthers center Aleksander Barkov has 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in a seven-game point streak.

They said it

"It's been a pleasant room. Guys are feeling confident and feeling good, and that's what you want this time of year. Everyone really understands their role and what they need to bring every night to help us win." -- Hurricanes center Jordan Staal
"Today is just about getting ready for the game tonight, preparing mentally. We were out there for 10 minutes just to get them out of bed and loosened up. Last time we played these guys (a 4-3 loss Feb. 21), we took eight (penalties). I thought our game 5-on-5 game was very good against these guys." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner

Hurricanes projected lineup

Nino Niederreiter -- Sebastian Aho -- Justin Williams
Micheal Ferland -- Jordan Staal -- Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov -- Jordan Martinook -- Brock McGinn
Saku Maenalanen -- Greg McKegg -- Warren Foegele
Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton
Brett Pesce -- Justin Faulk
Haydn Fleury -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Petr Mrazek
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Lucas Wallmark
Injured:Calvin de Haan (upper body)

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Mike Hoffman
Jayce Hawryluk -- -- Vincent Trocheck -- Evgenii Dadonov
Frank Vatrano -- Riley Sheahan -- Troy Brouwer
Jamie McGinn -- Henrik Borgstrom -- Dryden Hunt
Mike Matheson -- Aaron Ekblad
Keith Yandle -- Mark Pysyk
Ian McCoshen -- Josh Brown
Roberto Luongo
Sam Montembeault
Scratched:Denis Malgin
Injured:Derek MacKenzie (shoulder), MacKenzie Weegar (lower body), Colton Sceviour (wrist), James Reimer (lower body)

Status report

The Hurricanes did not hold a morning skate. … Reimer had a light on-ice workout Saturday and is day to day. … Bougher said the starting goaltender will be a game-time decision. He expects Montembeault to make his NHL debut either against the Hurricanes or the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.

Stat pack

Williams has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past nine games ... Huberdeau has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in his past seven games.