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Hurricanes look to hold onto final playoff spot

Mar 15, 2007 - 3:19 PM New Jersey (42-20-8) at Carolina (35-28-8) 7:30 pm EDT

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- If the Carolina Hurricanes want to avoid the same fate of last season's other Stanley Cup finalist, they have to win more consistently.

The Hurricanes aim to hold on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference when they host the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.

Carolina defeated the Edmonton Oilers in seven games last spring to capture the Stanley Cup, but the Oilers have regressed this season and will miss the playoffs.

The Hurricanes have been alternating wins and losses for the past two weeks and have been unable to climb higher in the East standings. They moved into eighth place with a 3-1 win over Florida on Tuesday and are 3-3-1 in their last seven contests.

John Grahame stepped in and made 26 saves in place of injured goaltender Cam Ward, who suffered a knee injury in Sunday's loss to the New York Rangers.

The Devils have 92 points and trail Buffalo (44-19-6) by just two for first place in the East. They had their lead in the Atlantic Division sliced to four points after Wednesday's 3-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Martin Brodeur made 19 saves for New Jersey, which has scored just 12 goals in its last five games. The Devils have had problems offensively all season, scoring just 186 goals, the seventh-fewest in the NHL.