Can good vibes of trip help Canes win on road?

Canes players, coaches, and staff pose with their dads and family members
on the ice at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Tuesday morning. CHIP ALEXANDER - chip.alexander@newsobserver.com

MONTREAL -- The Hurricanes don't have Eric Staal, Cam Ward, Scott Walker and Joni Pitkanen with them for tonight's game against the Canadiens.

But a lot of the players brought their fathers along. It's the team's annual "Fathers Trip," which means rooming together, putting up with each other's snoring and having a lot of laughs.

"It's like old times. It was like pee-wee hockey days all over again," Canes forward Matt Cullen said. "A lot of fun."

Some of the fathers were at the RBC Center on Sunday when the Hurricanes ended their 14-game winless streak with the 5-4 shootout victory over the Minnesota Wild. Others joined the team in Montreal.

Tom Kostopoulos noted his dad lives outside Toronto and made the five-hour drive. Others were on the team charter and a good time had by all.

Will all the good positive vibes of the Minnesota victory and having the dads along add up to a road victory tonight? The Habs have lost three of their last four games and were shut out 2-0 at Nashville on Saturday, allowing a season-high 55 shots on goal.

Carolina is 7-0-1 at the Bell Centre since the start of the 2005-06 season and has not lost in regulation in the arena since Dec. 6, 2003.

"December of '03, that was a tough month for the coach," the Canes' Paul Maurice said, flashing a wry smile. "That was the start of a road trip before I became available to coach any other team."

But Maurice and the Canes come in to the Bell Centre off a victory, albeit one where they squandered a 4-1 lead and lost Pitkanen and Walker to injuries.

"We won. We're on a roll, boys," Maurice told the Montreal media. "We just want to keep it going. You win a game like that, you just take all the good that you can with it to the next game."

The Canes' next goal: winning one on the road after starting 0-7-2 away from the RBC Center.

"It starts with one. Hopefully we can build off that win," forward Jussi Jokinen said. "I hope we can carry that confidence from that into the first period today.

"If we want to make a run we have to win both at home and on the road. This would be a great place to start. Obviously Montreal hasn't had the kind of start they wanted either. Their confidence is not too high, either, so we need to come strong in the first period."