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Hurricanes-Islanders Preview

Oct 20, 2009 - 5:48 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Carolina (2-4-1) at New York (0-3-3), 7:00 p.m. EDT

The Carolina Hurricanes have mostly struggled on offense, especially on the road. They have a prime opportunity to end those woes Wednesday night.

That's when the Hurricanes will try to earn their fifth straight victory over the winless New York Islanders and fifth in a row at Nassau Coliseum.

Carolina (2-4-1) has scored 14 goals this season - only three teams have fewer - and half of them came in a 7-2 rout of Florida on Oct. 9. That win marked the only time the Hurricanes have scored more than two goals in a game, and since that victory they've totaled four goals while losing three straight.

Carolina has been outscored 14-4 in losing all three road games this season and opened a four-game trip Saturday night with a 2-0 loss to New Jersey.

It marked the second shutout this season for the Hurricanes, who were blanked only once in 2008-09. Carolina missed on both of its power-play opportunities and has converted 4 of 36 chances (11.1 percent), second-to-last in the NHL.

"Our power play and our five-on-five offensive game are suffering from the exact same issues. We're slow with what we do," coach Paul Maurice told the team's official Web site. "A puck to the net is not the first mindset, and that's what we've got to do."

Cam Ward continued his solid play Saturday, with the only goal he allowed coming on a deflection off his shoulder 26 seconds into the third period. Ward, who has a 2.42 goals-against average, is 9-2-0 with a 2.34 GAA all-time against the Islanders and started each win of a four-game series sweep last season.

The Hurricanes outscored New York 24-9 in those four matchups and are 11-3-1 in the series since Jan. 6, 2006. They're 16-5-2 in Long Island since moving from Hartford before the 1997-98 season.

One team with fewer goals than Carolina this season is the Islanders (0-3-3), who have scored 13 en route to the worst start in franchise history. They join Toronto as the league's only winless clubs.

Since dropping its first three after regulation and falling 2-1 to Los Angeles, New York has suffered consecutive three-goal defeats, including Saturday night's 4-1 home loss to San Jose.

The Islanders led 1-0 after outshooting the Sharks 19-8 in the first period but gave up two goals in each of the next two periods while getting outshot in both.

"They, after the first period, came out and were a lot more disciplined with getting back to their zone and putting back-pressure on the puck," coach Scott Gordon said. "Our response to that was to not get pucks to the net."

Matt Moulson scored in his third straight game and has a team-best four goals, but John Tavares is the only other Islander with more than one. Kyle Okposo assisted on Moulson's goal and has a point in all six games.

Carolina's leading goal scorer, Ray Whitney, is expected to play in his 1,000th game Wednesday. He registered a goal and five assists last season against the Islanders, and has six goals and 18 assists in 17 matchups since the beginning of the 2002-03 season.

Eric Staal, who has one goal in the last five games, scored a team-leading six versus New York last season.

Carolina hasn't lost four straight since a five-game skid from Jan. 8-17.