Is this the night? Does the Canes' winless streak end at 13?

"I hope so, yes," center Brandon Sutter said. "I think we're getting closer and closer. It seems like we've been kind of putting it off, and we can't lose any more games here."

But Tuomo Ruutu was more definitive about the game with the Islanders.

"Tonight is the night. I've really got to believe it," he said, sitting in his locker after the morning skate. "Yeah, it's tonight. I feel it."

RALEIGH -- Good or bad teams, Eastern or Western Conference,
American or Canadian, the Carolina Hurricanes do not discriminate when
it comes to losing.

The Canes dropped their 11th straight on Friday night, a 3-2
disappointment to the equally generous Toronto Maple Leafs, who are
riding high in 29th place in the NHL standings compared to the basement
the Canes inhabit.

Someone else can do the math and the Hurricanes may still be the oldest team in the league, but their average age is dipping.

Brandon Sutter, 20, has been in the lineup five games. Zach Boychuk, who turned 20 on Oct. 4, will be in it Friday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Sutter and Boychuk began the season with the Albany River Rats (AHL) after leading the Hurricanes prospects to the championship in a rookie tournament hosted by the Detroit Red Wings. Sutter was called up Oct. 24. Boychuk got the call Thursday.

What can two 20-year-olds and former first-round picks do for the big team?

"We're just young guys and we'll try to bring energy," Sutter said Thursday.

Brandon Sutter had played long and hard Friday night in the Albany River Rats' 2-1 loss to the Rochester Americans in Albany, N.Y.

The next morning, he was on a flight to Minnesota, called up by the Hurricanes. He sat through a weather delay in Detroit while changing planes, then arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul International to find out his sticks didn't make it.

Sutter did make it to the Xcel Energy Center — a half-hour before the pregame warmups for the game against the Wild.

Wild? Yes, Sutter's day was just that.

The Carolina Hurricanes announced this morning that another five players have been assigned to the Albany (N.Y.) River Rats, the club's American Hockey League affiliate.

With the cuts, the Canes are left with 27 players in training camp, including young centers Brandon Sutter, 20, and Zach Boychuk, 19.

The five players assigned to Albany were: forwards Drayson Bowman and Steven Goetzen; defensemen Bryan Rodney and Brett Carson; and goaltender Justin Peters. The River Rats' training camp opens Wednesday.

Canes center Brandon Sutter has the kind of problem many of us can only long for.

"I just don't gain weight," he said Monday.

At 6 feet 3, Sutter is as lean and lanky as a cross-country runner. His listed weight is 183 pounds and he says he's doing anything and everything he can to get bigger and push past the 190 barrier. With no luck.

"I'm still in the 180s," he said. "I tried everything this summer. But I definitely feel stronger than the previous year, and as you grow up that's pretty natural."

On the day of the game, the son seemed a lot more comfortable answering questions than the father.

Canes center Brandon Sutter patiently endured three rounds of media this morning, all asking various forms of the same question: what would it be like playing against his father, Brent Sutter, the coach of the New Jersey Devils. Brandon smiled and laughed, looking completely at ease.

But not Dad. Brent Sutter was decidedly ill at ease, sighing and taking deep breaths, as he stood outside the Devils' locker room answering the same. This, he said, would not be anything like playing against his brothers in the NHL.

"It's different. He's your son," Brent said. "As a dad, it's weird, it's different."

Recovering from a major concussion is a matter of taking small steps. The head clears and then the headaches end. Workouts begin, light at first and then heavier, and finally it's back to skating.

So it has been for the Canes' Brandon Sutter, who suffered a concussion Oct. 25 on a big hit from the New York Islanders' Doug Weight. Sutter, for first time, was able to return to the ice Friday at the RBC Center, although his return to the lineup still is uncertain.

"It felt pretty good although my wind's a little off -- my cardio and stuff," Sutter said, smiling. "But it felt pretty good and hopefully we can up the workout the next couple of days and keep going harder and hopefully I'll be back before you know it."

The injured are back on the ice. Brandon Sutter, Joni Pitkanen and Frantisek Kaberle all are skating this morning at the RBC Center.

Sutter and Pitkanen have been out since the Oct. 25 game at the New York Islanders -- Sutter with a concussion suffered after a mid-ice hit from Doug Weight, and Pitkanen with a knee injury.

MONTREAL -- The Canes' Brandon Sutter, knocked unconscious Saturday in the New York Islanders game, returned to Raleigh by train on Monday.

Sutter, who suffered a concussion, was released from a Long Island hospital on Sunday and spent Sunday night with his father, Brent, the coach of the New Jersey Devils.

"Brandon will be fine," Brent Sutter said today in an interview. "He's still suffering from whip-lash symptoms and is sore, but he was feeling much better and was in a good state of mind, and his improvement is significant."