The Canes put in a spirited practice today at the RecZone, getting in some needed work on their ailing power play.
The Canes were 1-for-27 on the power play in their last six games, the lone goal coming in a 1-for-7 effort against Tampa Bay in an overtime loss to the Lightning. They were 0-5 in a 3-2 loss in Philadelphia and beat the Flyers 3-2 on Friday despite going 0-7.
"It hasn't been good," coach Paul Maurice said. "There's a couple of things going on. We've been running more and more some of our power-play guys to kill penalties. Our penalty killing has been really good but we may have to back some of those guys off the P.K. to give them more energy.
"It almost looks like we're looking to rest a little bit on our power play instead of keeping the five-on-five intensity up. We need to do that."
The problem for Maurice is that Eric Staal and Erik Cole, key power-play guys, have worked well together on the penalty kill.
"They're really emerged as a good pair," Maurice said. "In a perfect world I'd like to play Eric Staal a little less but the fact of the matter is he's been good on both sides of the puck for us. He's going to play a lot of minutes down the stretch."
Tim Gleason missed practice for personal reasons and Sergei Samsonov worked out off the ice. Gleason will play against the Rangers, but a decision will be made on Samsonov's availability tomorrow.
Joni Pitkanen was at practice and may play tomorrow, although Maurice said a decision on the six defensemen had not been made.
In today's practice, Jerome Samson was used on Brandon Sutter's line opposite Jiri Tlusty, and Pat Dwyer was on the fourth line with Ryan Carter and Troy Bodie. Maurice said the bottom six had not been set, however. Carter has missed six games with an upper-body injury.
"Carter looked good today but he's coming off an injury," Maurice said.
Cam Ward will again be in goal against the Rangers. Maurice said the staff had talked about slotting Justin Peters into a game but that Ward felt strong and there was no set plan yet for Peters playing.
"Cam's playing really well and he feels good and strong," Maurice said.
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at
Comments
Suggestion to MO Haters
Mon, 02/21/2011 - 23:33 — JustListenenRaise some money and buy the Hurricanes ... then YOU can hire a coach and players since you are more intelligent about hockey than Rutherford and the coaches.
I don't hate Mo. I just
Tue, 02/22/2011 - 18:24 — WAStoutI don't hate Mo. I just hate his inability to adapt to today's game. He's still living in 2002.
If he would simply adapt his game plan to game situations and/or opponents he would earn my respect. For example, don't play a high forward every single shift. Surprise your opponent. We won't even talk about the PP.
Mo is a smart man....but he why can't he be smart enough to see that the hybrid system when he took over from Lavi ACTUALLY WORKED! High octane offense but smarter on pinches. When he installed his full high forward, neutral zone cluster....we started failing.
Call me a hater or whatever....it's clear to me.
Buy the Hurricanes...
Tue, 02/22/2011 - 13:00 — Caniac5OH, only if I could!!!! :)
I understand why Staal and
Mon, 02/21/2011 - 21:47 — ctillI understand why Staal and Cole have been on the PK. Given that our PK is leaky and that Carter has been hurt, it makes sense to put top talent on PK. I remember when the Canes were grinding Ron Francis into the ice because he played PK frequently. Problem was, at that time the Canes had only three other good PKers on the team (Daniels, Brind'Amour, Craig Adams). The next season, along came Kevyn Adams. Francis rarely played PK after that.
Unless two other forwards step up and become productive on the PP, it's risky to burn the energy of Staal and Cole on the PK. No such forwards have stepped up. So maybe JR will acquire a player who improves the PK, and Staal/Cole can go back to scoring.
PK situation
Tue, 02/22/2011 - 13:04 — Caniac5We have players that I think could step up and play the PK but when are they to get a chance? For some reason, unknowing to me, we like to run players into the ground and burn them out. Cam is tired and Peters is getting rusty! I would send Peters down, since he is on a two-way, and let him get some action. Then, bring him back up and let him play some. If he jumps in how...he will look horrible!!!
Pitkanen needs to be moved off the top PP line until he proves himself in practice with better passes. Staal and Cole need to sit and let the 4th line play the PK since they are then most refreshed.
My ..2 cents!
Mo must GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mon, 02/21/2011 - 18:01 — boofish5Agree with you WAStout. Mo was not a good hire, just the easy and cheap hire for Rutherford. Mo is his boy!
Nothing like .500 hockey and fighting for the 8th spot every year. I wonder how the other coach we fired is doing. Oh, wait, made the Stanley Cup finals last year and has the top team in the East. Yeah, having Mo is much better, who wants to pay for playoff tics anyways......
Mo must GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mon, 02/21/2011 - 18:01 — boofish5Agree with you WAStout. Mo was not a good hire, just the easy and cheap hire for Rutherford. Mo is his boy!
Nothing like .500 hockey and fighting for the 8th spot every year. I wonder how the other coach we fired is doing. Oh, wait, made the Stanley Cup finals last year and has the top team in the East. Yeah, having Mo is much better, who wants to pay for playoff tics anyways......
Let Me Get This Straight Mo:
Mon, 02/21/2011 - 16:46 — WAStoutYou want to continue riding Cam even though NY will be without their best offensive player?
Scratch that....you blew it against Pitt without their TWO best offensive players. Nevermind.
And you just NOW figuring out we have a problem with our PP?
Must be nice to be protected by nepotism. In the real business world, you would have been fired LAST season.
Samsonov
Mon, 02/21/2011 - 13:59 — canesehTrade or hurt?
Trade or hurt?
Mon, 02/21/2011 - 21:25 — hellfishStay tuned this may be a big trade...Sami is not the only Cane.