Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said he hasn’t decided which defensemen will make the lineup in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs Tuesday at the RBC Center.
“We’ve got seven healthy defensemen,” Maurice said. “We believe in all of them, so we’ll look at that for tomorrow.”
In Games 2 and 3, Frank Kaberle made the lineup instead of Dennis Seidenberg. Kaberle has playoff experience, notably scoring the game winner to clinch the Stanley Cup in 2006. Kaberle played in 30 games this season and missed 25 because of an injury.
Seidenberg’s only playoff experience was in 2004 as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers, when he played in three games but didn’t score a point.
But this season, Seidenberg led the team with 160 blocked shots, which had him tied for 17th in the NHL.
“It’s not necessarily Frankie or Seides,” said Maurice, who shed no light on which direction he was headed. “There are just matchups and other things that go into that, but we’ll take a look at that.”
Javier Serna has covered sports for The News & Observer since 2007. He previously covered growth for the North Raleigh News, and sports at The Truth in Elkhart, Ind. E-mail 
Comments
Defensemen need to defend right now
Tue, 04/21/2009 - 08:47 — HockeydogThis is a tight checking, close series. Right now the Canes will benefit most from defensemen who can defend and play the body. Seidenburg fits that bill. I would take Pitkinen out and put Seidneburg in, he should have never come out. Offensive
( as in very offensive) defensemen in a tight series can be risky. Right now the Canes need the defense to defend and make a good decision with the puck and at the blue line, and the forwards to score within Maurice's system. Kaberle is not as much of a risk taker as Pitkinen and has won a Cup in a tight series, so he knows how it works. Wallin is more physical than Pitkinen, so I'd leave him in there. No knock on Pitkinen, he's been a big part of the Canes playoff run, but this series
is too tight for him to do what he does best right now. One goal can effectively end the Canes season tonight. And as far as puck moving out of the D zone, the forwards need to do a better job of coming back to help, rather than being so anxious about getting down the ice. This team is formidable when they come up the ice as a solid 5 man unit.
Makes me glad
Tue, 04/21/2009 - 08:33 — esteban1949I am NOT In Mo's shoes...because no matter what you do,no one is happy...gee just like being a ref or a street cop...no one wants to hear or see ya unless They need you...hmmm
Go Canes !!
I've said it before and I'll
Mon, 04/20/2009 - 17:03 — dustinlammersI've said it before and I'll mention it again. Wallin needs to come out, you look at the times we're pinned in deep it's when he is out on the ice. Nothing personal but he can't move the puck fast enough, his passes are in the skates and he gets to just before center and ices the puck on dump ins. Seidenberg can play physical and Kaberle can move the puck, they should be the third pairing. Also why is Cullen off the point with Corvo on the #1 PP unit? That seemed to generate some success in the stretch run...