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Lecavalier, Lightning look to continue dominance of Hurricanes

Nov 23, 2007 - 2:42 PM Tampa Bay (10-9-2) at Carolina (12-7-3) 7:00 pm EST

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) - The Carolina Hurricanes have the best offense in the Eastern Conference, but the Tampa Bay Lightning have had their number lately.

Vincent Lecavalier and the Lightning will look for their seventh consecutive victory over the Hurricanes when the Southeast Division foes meet Friday.

Lecavalier had his eight-game multi-point streak snapped in Wednesday's 2-1 setback to the New York Rangers. It was the longest such streak in the NHL in more than 11 years.

Tampa Bay, however, has dominated Carolina in both meetings this season. Lecavalier had three goals and two assists to lead the Lightning to a 6-1 win on November 14 and Shane O'Brien tallied twice on November 8 during a 5-1 victory.

Johan Holmqvist always seems to enjoy his matchups with the Hurricanes. The Swedish netminder is 5-1-0 with a 1.53 goals-against average and .947 save percentage against the division rival in his career.

Carolina has netted a conference-best 74 goals this season, but has managed just two tallies in its meetings with Tampa Bay. Eric Staal leads the club with 13 goals, while Rod Brind'Amour has a team-leading 27 points.

Brind'Amour and Staal are just two of the six Hurricanes with at least 20 points this season. However, the team has been outscored, 16-6, over their previous four contests.