Pitkanen not at practice

Defenseman Joni Pitkanen was not at the Canes' practice today at the RBC Center but may play tomorrow against the Florida Panthers, coach Paul Maurice said.

"We wanted to keep him off the ice for two days just to let everything settle down," Maurice said. "He's actually in good shape, fitness wise. He did a lot of work this summer.

"It's kind of that balancing act, letting everything settle down. We'll wait to see how he feels when he comes in tomorrow."

Pitkanen played his first game Tuesday against Tampa Bay but left after the second period. Maurice said after the 2-1 shootout win that Pitkanen, who had knee surgery Sept. 10 and missed training camp, did not re-injure the knee.

But there was some soreness, which Maurice said was to be expected.

"There was no more damage or any problems," he said. "It's just he was sore in the game and we pulled him and he got cold. A lot of it was the flow of the game. We had so many penalty kills, we didn't want to use him in that role, so he got cold."

The Canes play Saturday night in Tampa Bay, and Maurice said if Pitkanen "got through tomorrow and felt good and strong" it would limit the minutes of the other five defensemen in the Panthers game. If not, the Canes may dress seven defensemen for the second game.

Maurice said he was not sure if Cam Ward would be in goal for both games but indicated he might play both, considering the schedule.

"We'd like to get Mike (Leighton) in a game, there's no question about that," Maurice said. "The schedule does not show of lot of urgency not to play Cam back to back. We have days off.

"A lot of these No. 1 goalies are better on the second half of back-to-back nights. They're in more of a rhythm, they get into it."

Pitkanen had 9:37 of ice time and assisted on Jussi Jokinen's goal in the first period against Tampa Bay. Maurice said if Pitkanen does not play, Aaron Ward and Niclas Wallin would be paired on the back end, with Andrew Alberts and Jay Harrison together as the third pair.