Arena: Air Canada Centre
Time: Tuesday, 02 March, 2010 at 7:00 PM ET
League: NHL – United States of America

Last 10 matches: Carolina 8-2-0; Toronto 2-6-2
On the surface, this is a matchup between the two bottom teams in the Eastern Conference, but Carolina is tied with Ottawa for the best record in the conference over the past 10 games (8-2-0). They have won five-straight and nine of 11. But they are nine points out of a playoff spot and are sellers in the trade market. Ray Whitney is their top trade bait, but he has a no-trade clause and has already nixed one deal. Toronto is also a seller and defenseman Tomas Kaberle is its most sought after commodity. Kaberle too has a no-trade clause and refused to be dealt last year. Alexei Ponikarovsky and Lee Stempniak have also been mentioned as trade possibilities.Bad team defense has hurt both clubs this season. Carolina is 15th in offense and Toronto is 17th but the Hurricanes are 27th in goals allowed and Toronto is 29th.
Whitney has three goals and seven points in five games for Carolina. Eric Staal has 20 points in 15 games. Jussi Jokinen has eight goals and 12 points in nine games. Brandon Sutter has eight points in nine games. Goalie Manny Legace went 3-0 with a .915 save percentage and 2.33 goals-against average in Ward’s absence while rookie Justin Peters started his NHL career 2-0 with a 1.51 GAA and .950 save percentage. … Toronto right wing Phil Kessel has seven points in four games. Center Tyler Bozak has five points in five games.
This is the last of four meetings this season. Carolina won two of the previous three games. Toronto’s rookie goalie Jonas Gustavsson made 34 saves for his second NHL win on Nov. 6 in Raleigh. Defenseman Tim Gleason had two goals as Carolina rallied from three goals down to win a 6-5 shootout on Nov. 19 in Raleigh. The Maple Leafs outshot the Hurricanes but lost 4-2 in Toronto on Jan. 12. We will post information about results of this match, as soon as posible.. stay tuned.