Hurricanes  1    Panthers  4

Carolina Hurricanes (26-30-7) at Florida Panthers (25-28-10), 7 p.m.

Sports Network | March 6, 2010

(Sports Network) - A fire sale at the trade deadline has yet to slow down the Carolina Hurricanes, who'll be taking aim at an eighth consecutive victory in tonight's clash with the Southeast Division-rival Florida Panthers from the BankAtlantic Center.

Carolina was one of the NHL's most active sellers at Wednesday's deadline, shipping out defensemen Aaron Ward (Anaheim), Joe Corvo (Washington) and Andrew Alberts (Vancouver) as well as veteran forwards Scott Walker (Washington) and Stephane Yelle (Colorado) in separate deals. The Hurricanes are unlikely to reach the playoffs despite their current tear, with the club ranked 14th in the Eastern Conference with 59 points at the moment.

The roster modifications didn't have much effect on the red-hot Hurricanes on Thursday, as Carolina cruised to 11-2-0 over its last 13 games with a 4-1 triumph over visiting Ottawa. Manny Legace stopped 25-of-26 shots to lead the way, while Rod Brind'Amour, Tom Kostopoulos, Brandon Sutter and Chad LaRose all scored goals to help support the seasoned goaltender.

Zach Boychuk, promoted from Albany of the AHL as a result of Wednesday's moves, contributed a pair of assists to Carolina's latest win.

The Hurricanes' streak is their longest since a nine-game tear from March 18- April 7 of last season, and they've won three in a row on the road entering a stretch of three straight away outings that begins tonight.

Florida's postseason chances are rather dim as well following a recent season- long seven-game slide, but the Panthers head into this divisional showdown on a very high note after coming through with a 7-4 home win over previously- surging Philadelphia on Thursday.

David Booth and Bryan McCabe each had a goal and three assists as Florida matched its highest scoring output of the season, with Michael Frolik lighting the lamp twice in the much-needed victory. Goaltender Tomas Vokoun did his part as well, registering 38 saves to help the Panthers halt the Flyers' five- game win streak.

"It was a nice night. We haven't had a win in a while," Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer said. "Some good things happened. We deserved to enjoy a good night for a change."

Florida, which is one point ahead of the Hurricanes in the Southeast and conference standings, has outscored Carolina by a 9-3 margin in taking both previous matchups between these teams held at the BankAtlantic Center in 2009-10. The Hurricanes has won all three 2009-10 encounters with the Panthers in Raleigh, though, and dealt Florida a 4-1 setback on February 9.