Arena: St. Pete Times Forum
Time: 06 Apr 2010 at 7:30 PM ET
League: NHL – United States of America

Last 10 matches: Carolina 5-3-2; Tampa Bay 3-7-0
Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier and Hurricanes captain Eric Staal both lead their teams in shots with 282 and 262 respectively, but both have had sub-par seasons with 67 and 61 points thus far. Brandon Sutter had three goals in the previous three games before facing the Devils, while left wing Jussi Jokinen had two goals and two assists in his previous three. … St. Louis had three assists in his previous two games before facing the Rangers, while defenseman Kurtis Foster was riding a four-game points streak before the Rangers came to town.
This is the sixth and final game of the season between the divisional rivals. The Lightning have a 3-2 lead in the series with a 5-2 win on Oct. 10, a 3-2 win on Jan. 18, and a 3-2 overtime victory on March 23. The Hurricanes won the first meeting of the season, a 2-1 shootout win on Oct 6, and they took a 3-1 victory on Nov. 21. In their most recent matchup, Tampa’s Martin St. Louis scored the OT winner just 29 seconds into the extra period, recording his second goal of the night.
Its down to playing for pride as both the Lightning and Hurricanes have been officially eliminated from the playoffs. The Bolts were eliminated on Saturday with the Bruins’ 2-1 overtime victory over the Maple Leafs, while the ‘Canes’ playoff chances came to an end on Saturday with their loss to the Devils and the Bruins’ win. Tampa Bay has four games remaining in this last week of the regular season, while Carolina has three. This will also be the ‘Canes’ final divisional matchup. We will post information about results of this match, as soon as posible.