Boychuk's play earns praise, confidence

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Lost in all the gloom and dejection of the Canes' 3-2 loss Friday to the Maple Leafs was that Zach Boychuk made his NHL debut this season and played well.

Let's just say the winger, called up Friday from Albany (AHL), played well enough to make
coach Paul Maurice more than comfortable with what he saw on the ice.

"What you're hoping for, on a team struggling for offense, you're hoping for offense," Maurice said today. "At the same time, you want to be able to play the young player, so you want that confidence and comfort level as a coach.

"What he did was do all the things he needed to do to buy himself the ice time, and eventually his hand skills and his ability will come out. That's what you're hoping for."

Boychuk played on Matt Cullen's line with Erik Cole and had 15:11 of ice time and a team-high five shots on goal. In the final moments of the second period, he had Canes
fans roaring at the RBC Center when he shook free on a breakaway, only to be stopped by goaltender Jonas Gustavsson.

Maurice said Boychuk's play was much like Brandon Sutter's when he was brought up
from the River Rats and placed in the lineup for the Minnesota Wild game. Sutter scored his third goal of the season and had a season-high 17:29 ice time against the Leafs.

"You want to make the coach feel safe enough to play you, to give you the minutes, to have a chance to do the things that you know you can do," Maurice said.

Maurice indicated that Boychuk would stay on Cullen's line tonight against the Blue Jackets. No lineup changes are expected. Ray Whitney, who suffered an upper-body injury against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday, missed Friday's game and did not make the trip.