Defenseman Joni Pitkanen will return for Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, coach Paul Maurice said today.

Pitkanen has been out with a lower-body injury. Defenseman Bryan Rodney has been reassigned to the Albany River Rats (AHL), Maurice said.

The Canes had a limited practice today, with just five skaters and goaltenders Manny Legace and Justin Peters.

The Canes' 6-5 comeback win over the Maple Leafs last night was significant on several fronts:

-- Carolina has six points in the last four games and has moved out of last place in the NHL. That's the first step the Canes needed to make.

-- The Canes were 0-4-4 when trailing after the first period and 0-7-3 when trailing after two, so they've ended that and proven they can come from behind and win a game.

-- Stephane Yelle had more ice time (10:14) than Rod Brind'Amour (10:09).

Goals by Tuomo Ruutu and Jussi Jokinen lifted the Canes to a 6-5 victory in a shootout — the Canes' third consecutive game decided in a shootout.

Erik Cole scored with 2.9 seconds left in the third period to tie the score 5-5 after the Canes pulled goalie Manny Legace for a sixth attacker.

Tim Gleason scored twice in the third — the defenseman's first two-goal game of his career -- as the Canes tied the score 4-4. Ian White's goal with 29.9 seconds left in the htthird pushed the Leafs ahead 5-4, but Cole scored on a rebound to tie it.

The Canes, trailing 3-0 after the first period, fought their way back into the game with second-period goals from Stephane Yelle and Matt Cullen to trail 3-2 after two.

Yelle picked up his first goal of the season with 3:13 left in the second, diving to knock a loose puck past goaltender Jonas Gustavsson. Cullen nearly scored with 2:37 left, the puck eluding Gustavsson but not crossing the goal line. But the Canes kept the puck deep in the zone and Cullen scored with 2:30 remaining off a Tuomo Ruutu centering pass.

Goals by Matt Stajan, Lee Stempniak and Mikhail Grabovski have given the Leafs a 3-0 lead after the first period.

The Leafs, who have lost their last four, needed just 61 seconds to grab a 1-0 lead. Stajan scored on a top-shelf shot past Manny Legace after Alexei Ponikarovsky knocked the puck away from Joe Corvo in front of the Canes goal.

The Leafs had given up the first goal in 17 of 19 games. Now it's 17 of 20.

Stempniak made it 2-0 at 14:21 on Stempniak's blistering shot from the circle.

The Canes' Andrew Alberts hit the post with the Leafs leading 1-0. Leafs goaltender Jonas Gustavsson took care of the rest.

The Hurricanes now have four players on their roster who began the season with the Albany River Rats of the AHL.

Center Brandon Sutter and defenseman Bryan Rodney were the first oo arrive. Injuries to goaltender Michael Leighton and forward Scott Walker now will have goalie Justin Peters and forward Pat Dwyer on the Canes' roster tonight for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Dwyer was called up today from the Rats, and center Eric Staal placed on injured reserve.

"We've had some things to maneuver," Canes coach Paul Maurice said today. "But we've had some success bringing in some kids to play.

The Hurricanes have set a target date for goaltender Cam Ward's return -- Dec. 5, against the Vancouver Canucks at the RBC Center.

"We're hopeful of that," general manager Jim Rutherford said Wednesday. "That would be the earliest. It may be longer."

Rutherford also said a decision would be made Thursday on bringing up a forward from Albany (AHL). He said it probably would be either Jerome Samson or Patrick Dwyer.

The Hurricanes have called up goaltender Justin Peters from the Albany River Rats (AHL) and reassigned forward/defenseman Tim Conboy to the River Rats.

Peters' recall comes after a lower-body injury to goaltender Michael Leighton in the second period of the Canes' 3-2 shootout loss Tuesday in Montreal.Manny Legace replaced Leighton with the Canes leading 2-1.

Goaltender Cam Ward still is healing from a leg laceration suffered Nov. 7 at Columbus and may not be available for another couple of weeks.

Peters, 23, is 6-5-2 in Albany this season with a 2.43 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.

Maxim Lapierre's goal in the sixth round of a shootout gives the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 victory Tuesday at the Bell Centre.

Canadiens goalie Carey Price made great shootout saves on Bryan Rodney
in the fifth round and Matt Cullen in the sixth to finish it off. The
Habs (10-11-0) have won eight times in overtime or a shootout this
season.

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."

MONTREAL -- For two seasons, Canes forward Tom Kostopoulos was a part of the experience that is playing for the Montreal Canadiens.

"It will be fun," he said of tonight's game with the Habs. "The atmosphere here with these fans, the fun feeling, makes it a great place to play."

Coming to North Carolina and the Hurricanes this season has been another type of experience. Southern living. Southern hospitality. Picking a local college team to root for — Kostopoulos says he's leaning toward N.C. State.

"The guys are already roping me in," he said with a smile. "The first thing when I got down there everyone said was, 'You've got to pick your college colors.' So, N.C. State Wolfpack for now."

Canes coach Paul Maurice said today that center Eric Staal may be able to return to the lineup next week.

Staal has missed the last six games with an upper-body injury. He had played 349 consecutive regular-season games, the second-longest active streak in the NHL, before missing the Florida game on Nov. 4.

"We really want to make sure we don't put him back in and this thing get reaggravated," Maurice said. "We can't go through this again. We need him to come back and play and play his big minutes."