Brind'Amour at practice

Rod Brind'Amour was on the ice today for the Canes' practice at the RecZone.

Brind'Amour took a puck in the face in Game 7 against the Bruins and did not return to the game. He suffered a deep laceration over the right eye.

"I feel fine," Brind'Amour said. "I'm ready to go."

Canes coach Paul Maurice said Brind'Amour got through the practice well, even with all the stitches, swelling and black eye.

"He got it better than we all had hoped," Maurice said. "If he says he's good we just take him at his word."

The Canes ran the same lines that they did in Game 7 in Boston. Scott Walker remains on Eric Staal's line with Ray Whitney and Erik Cole on Matt Cullen's line with Chad LaRose.

While the Canes have speed and skill at forward, Maurice said it will important not to try and trade off scoring chances with the Pens, who beat the Flyers and Caps to reach the conference finals for the second straight season.

"At the end of the day, when you look at their offensive numbers, they're going to get their chances," he said. "It's far more important that we control the type of play we play, than think we're going to go out and control how they play.

"We can't go into this game and say our entire job is to react to them. So much of what Pittsburgh will do to you is what you allow them to do in terms of where you put the puck, how you handle the puck, how easy you give them puck up.

"If we just said let's take three-on-twos all night and we'll trade 'em to see who wins, we're not going to win that game. At the same time, if you sit back against this team they're just going to tear you apart, so you have to find a way to establish our game."