Canes back on RBC Center ice

The Canes took the ice today at the RBC Center for a practice before their flight to Boston.

Eric Staal continued to center the line with Ray Whitney and Chad LaRose. Matt Cullen missed most of the practice, with Dwight Helminen filling in as the center with Erik Cole and Tuomo Ruutu. Cullen did get in some skating near the end.

Canes coach Paul Maurice made a change during Game 5 against the Devils, switching Staal and Cullen. And he isn't ruling out more changes in the Bruins series.

"We've already talked about the next stage — where do we go from here if we don't like what we see," he said today. "It's a different team we're playing, with different matchups, so we may have to make an adjustment there."

It appears Anton Babchuk could be back on the first power-play unit. He worked with Joe Corvo at the points, with Staal, Whitney an Ruutu. The second unit had Joni Pitkanen and Dennis Seidenberg at the points, with Rod Brind'Amour, Sergei Samsonov and Jussi Jokinen.

Cole also has been working with the second unit, alternating with Jokinen.

The Canes, after winning the seven-game series with the third-seeded New Jersey Devils, like the challenge of facing the top seed in the East. Boston did sweep the four games in the regular season but has not faced the Canes since mid-February.

"We're a different team now," Staal said. "You can say that all you want but you have to go in there and we have to prove it."