Pre Game: Hurricanes @ Isles

Tonight, Eric Staal and the Hurricanes travel to Long Island to take on John Tavares and our surging New York Islanders.

The Hurricanes wont all be there though, as late last night they struck a deal with the New Jersey Devils to trade them winger Alexei Ponikarovsky for a defenseman prospect and a 4th round pick in the draft this year. This takes away some of the Canes scoring depth as they come into the Island tonight as to me Alexei is a pretty good 2nd/3rd line player.

According to Arthur Staple, Evgeni Nabakov will once again get the nod in net for the Islanders tonight. Nabakov has looked super sharp recently so lets hope he can keep it up tonight.

Additionally Steve Staios will once again be a healthy scratch meaning Dylan Reese will once again be dressing tonight. Dylan hasn't played bad at all since getting called back up so its good that they are giving him an extended look.

Tonight is a very important game after coming off two very good road games against some of the better teams in the league. The intensity and stuff we showed in those games needs to be kept up tonight because this is a must win game for us so we can keep this streak going, going into the home and home with the Maple leafs next week.

If your heading out to the game tonight be careful with the inclement weather, and lets be loud and hope the Isles get the win!