By Brian Murphy, WRAL

The Carolina Hurricanes are back in the NHL Playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

And a familiar opponent awaits in the first round.

The Hurricanes, the No. 2 seed in the Metropolitan Division, will take on the New York Islanders, who clinched the No. 3 seed in the division with a victory over New Jersey on Monday night.

The teams met in the first round last season with Carolina winning the series, 4-2, en route to the Eastern Conference finals.

The Hurricanes (111 points) will open the playoffs on Saturday or Sunday at PNC Arena in Raleigh.

The New York Rangers (114 points) are the No. 1 seed in the division and in the Eastern Conference.

The NHL regular season ends Thursday and several playoff spots and seeds are still up for grabs.

Four teams are still alive for one spot in the Eastern Conference with Washington (89 points) needing just to win to to clinch the spot. Detroit (89), Pittsburgh (88) and Philadelphia (87) can also win the final spot, but would need varying degrees of help.

The Hurricanes, winners of five straight, visit last-place Columbus (64 points) on Tuesday night in their final regular-season game.

Carolina and the Islanders split their four regular-season meetings with each team winning once in regulation and once in overtime. Carolina defeated New York 4-1 on Long Island on March 19, the teams’ final meeting.

Source: wralsportsfan.com