NEWARK — Defenseman Jamie McBain will return to the Canes' lineup tonight against the New Jersey Devils and forward Jussi Jokinen may be able to jump back in Friday against the New York Rangers.
McBain was made a healthy scratch Sunday against the Dallas Stars after a minus-4 game in the 5-1 loss Friday to the Washington Capitals. Derek Joslin replaced McBain and played his first game of the season in the 5-2 loss to the Stars.
"I've been looking for a place to get Derek in a game and wanted to do it," Canes coach Paul Maurice said today after the morning skate the Prudential Center. "I wasn't overly down on Jamie's game. He had a real rough night against Washington and that was kind of the open door for (Joslin) to go in, but I've liked his play overall.
"If Derek had gone in and really heated it up and had a great game, we'd look at someone else coming out of the lineup. I don't think you can expect a guy to sit as long as he did and be the best defenseman, and clearly we had a number of guys who can give us a little bit more in a game like that."
Jokinen has missed the last two games after his leg injury against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He skated with the team today for the first time and Maurice liked what he saw.
"He had a good day today," Maurice said. "We'll give him a pretty good tug tomorrow and if all goes well then he practices with the team Thursday with the idea of playing Friday."
In today's skate, Eric Staal centered a line with Jeff Skinner and Chad LaRose, Tuomo Ruutu centered Alexei Ponikarovsky and Zach Boychuk, Brandon Sutter was at center with Jiri Tlusty and Pat Dwyer, and Tim Brent centered Anthony Stewart and Zac Dalpe.
Cam Ward, trying to shake off two rough starts, will be in goal for the Canes. Martin Brodeur will start in net for the Devils (6-5-1), who have won their last two -- at Philadelphia, at home against Winnipeg -- after losing three in a row and five of six.
Coach Peter DeBoer said Ilya Kovalchuk, who skated with the Devils today, would sit out the game with a lower-body injury suffered Thursday against the Flyers. Kovalchuk did not play Saturday against Winnipeg.
For now, the Canes are the team looking to end a losing streak.
"It's all about the ups and downs of the year," Skinner said. "Every team goes through ups and downs. We want to come in here and play a hard game. I think our compete level needs to be higher and I think that's what you're going to see tonight."
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at
Comments
WHY
Tue, 11/08/2011 - 18:15 — fergmkmWhy does Maurice call UP a offensive player from the Checkers and put him on the 4th line. Dalpe tonight is on the 4th line and that makes no sense. You can't expect a offensive type player like Dalpe to produce offensive numbers with 4th line players. Boychuk was called up two weeks ago and again Maurice puts him on the 4th line.(Finally tonight not on the 4th line) If you are going to call up a player that is more than capable of putting the PUCK in the NET then WHY not put him on one of the TOP 3 LINES. Its not like any of the lines are doing anything besides the Ruutu, Jokinen and Skinner. WHY not bench STAAL to send him a MESSAGE that in ORDER to PLAY you must PRODUCE. Don't get me wrong STAAL is my favorite player but to see Skinner skating his tail off and producing and seeing Staal skating like he is trying out for DISNEY ON ICE is frustrating. If this were a Canadian team STAAL would have already been a HEALTHY scratch ONCE. Its time to put the FRIENDSHIP aside and
FIRE MAURICE BEFORE WE MISS THE PLAY OFFS AGAIN.
Team compete
Tue, 11/08/2011 - 17:38 — RichardcairnWhat makes me so frustrated with the Canes is their lack of consistency and seeming lack of effort. Some games or even some periods they play very well and on these nights they compare favorably with any team; other nights they look as if they would lose to any AHL team. It worries me that players and coaches come and go but this state of affairs has been with us for many seasons now. Is there something in the water in Raleigh that does not agree with them?
There have been some suggestions that Eric Staal should be traded. I do not agree but sometimes the idea of trading him in return for 2 or 3 good players who play with a high level of intensity every night is very appealing.
Better question
Tue, 11/08/2011 - 17:25 — angrymikeOr why didnt he take out Kaberle? Why sit the young player who has played well and play the veteran who has sucked? That's ignorant at best and suggests the front office is pulling strings on the line-up card at worst. Play the guys playing hard and well, sit the guys who are sucking for God's sake. They have contracts, they are getting paid regardless.
Hopefully Rutherford is
Tue, 11/08/2011 - 17:55 — CanarseHopefully Rutherford is shopping Kaberle. Sitting him would just signal other teams how bad he really is. Then again, they can probably see for themselves. Still, it's traditional to play a guy while you shop him. If they get no bites they might sit him and even put him through waivers.
Kaberle
Tue, 11/08/2011 - 18:16 — fergmkmNobody will touch Kaberle with his contract. JR got burned on this one. I will keep my fingers crossed.
Shuffling some More.
Tue, 11/08/2011 - 16:50 — B11656Why doesn't Maurice just play pin the tail on Stormy, throw darts at a board, something. I guess He is now just pulling names out of a hat to set lines, except for LaRose. These lines a getting to be all over the place. Go figure.
Remarkable..
Tue, 11/08/2011 - 15:26 — Hockeydad92"In today's skate, Eric Staal centered Jeff Skinner and Chad LaRose"