The Hurricanes are an elite team. They responded to their 3-2 loss against Vancouver by hammering Colorado, one of the best teams in hockey, by a 5-2 score. They are a profitable 65-37 the last few seasons, after scoring 4 or more goals in their previous game.

The Devils are missing a number of important players right now. The missing defense is leading to a lot of goals allowed. They gave up 5 goals last game. That's 28 goals allowed in their last 6 games, a minimum of 3 in each. That many goals allowed won't cut it against a Carolina club which has conceded 2 or less in 4 of its last 5 games, 3 in the other.

The Hurricanes own the Devils here. They are 7-1 the last 8 meetings in Raleigh. Nothing changes today.