Of the former Hurricanes in the playoffs, it would be hard to single out a star performer other than Peter Laviolette. The Philadelphia Flyers coach, by trying to climb into the Pittsburgh Penguins’ bench during a late-season meeting between the two future playoff opponents, threw the Penguins way off their game.

Among players, Justin Williams leads the way with three goals in three games for the Kings, who have jumped out to a surprising 3-0 lead over the top-seeded Canucks.

UPDATE, 8:36 A.M. WEDNESDAY: Totally forgot Ian White, whose 39 games for the Hurricanes last season could aptly be described as forgettable. One goal and is minus-2 after Tuesday's games, averaging 18:01 in ice time.

It’s Joe Corvo’s good fortune that after saying he wouldn’t mind a trade, Tomas Kaberle was still available five days into the NHL’s free-agent market, because the Carolina Hurricanes were able to sign Kaberle, offload Corvo for a fourth-round pick and make everyone happy.

Updated 10:48 p.m.

RALEIGH — The Carolina Hurricanes finally, on their fourth try this season, beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, with a 4-1 win at the RBC Center Friday.

But even with grabbing a pair of big points, center Eric Staal left the game late in the second period with an upper body injury and did not return.

Staal, following through on a shot in the slot, was hit hard by just-acquired Pittsburgh defenseman Matt Niskanen.

Staal, who earlier this week delivered a bit hit to his brother Marc Staal of the New York Rangers, stayed on the ice for moments before being led to the dressing room.

Carolina coach Paul Maurice said Staal won’t play in Saturday’s road game against the Montreal Canadiens.

RALEIGH — Hurricanes star center Eric Staal had a hat trick, but it almost wasn't enough.

Carolina held on for a 4-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks after three quick penalties put the Hurricanes down two men for an extended period in the closing minutes of the game.

Corvo, whose roughing penalty was the first of those penalties at the 16:59 mark in the third period, scored an empty netter with 4.7 seconds left.

Joe Corvo doesn't feel like he was with the Washington Capitals long enough last season to think of them as one of his "old teams."

The Canes' defenseman went to the Caps on the March 4 trade deadline, playing 18 regular-season games and seven in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Not long after the Caps were bounced in the opening round of the playoffs, Corvo and the team parted ways and Corvo soon signed a free-agent contract to come back to Carolina.

What did he learn about the Caps?

"Not much," Corvo said today. "It was just a short period of time that I was gone. Their talent is pretty obvious. It's just a dangerous team."

Chip is on vacation, so I'm filling in this week with the Monday question. In desperate need of another experienced NHL defenseman, the Hurricanes signed Joe Corvo for a relatively affordable $4.5 million over two years.

The question: Given the presence of other offensive-minded defensemen like Anton Babchuk and Jamie McBain, would the Hurricanes have been better off spending that money on a more defensive-minded player?

Or, given Carolina's financial constraints as well as Corvo's salary and desire to return, would they have been hard-pressed to do any better than Corvo? (Not to mention the failure of last summer's push to add more defensive defensemen....)

Have at it.

Joe Corvo probably could have signed with another team for more money. A free agent with quickness, skating skills and a powerful shot, he was desirable.

But Corvo said today he wanted back with the Hurricanes. This is where he wanted to play. This is where his family wanted to live.

"It's good to be back and not have to worry about where I fit in and stuff," Corvo said after signing a two-year contract with the Canes. "This makes it easy. This is the best situation for me."

The Hurricanes have agreed to terms with defenseman Joe Corvo on a two-year contract, bringing back a player they traded to the Washington Capitals in March.

The deal will pay Corvo $2 million in 2010-11 and $2.5 million in 2011-12.

"We feel really good about Joe coming back," general manager Jim Rutherford said today. "Joe has been a good player for us for a number of seasons. Joe gives us a lot of minutes. He can skate, he moves the puck well, he competes hard.

"If you look at our defensemen, we have four capable of getting us 30 or more points. We feel good about our depth."

Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford anticipated a quiet holiday weekend, a day after the free agent signing period opened.

Rutherford, who heard from the agent of former Hurricanes defenseman Joe Corvo on Thursday, said it didn’t look likely that Corvo would return. Rutherford would like to have the Oak Park, Ill., native back in the Carolina fold, but Corvo is looking for more money than the Hurricanes can afford.

“It looks like he’s going to be out of our reach,” he said.

Rutherford said defensemen Alexandre Picard and Brett Carson were still options. The team offered the free agents contracts that would have removed their minor league clauses early this week. When the sides couldn’t agree on money, the Hurricanes elected not to qualify the offers, which would have given the players arbitration rights. As a result, they both became unrestricted free agents on Thursday.

“They’re still in the mix,” Rutherford said.

Talk about a strong finishing kick. The Canes' turned what appeared to be a fairly quiet trade deadline day into a bang-up, wholesale lineup change with a late rush.

Defenseman Aaron Ward and Scott Walker were traded just after noon. About three hours later, just before the NHL's 3 p.m. deadline, the Canes dealt defenseman Joe Corvo to the Washington Capitals for defenseman Brian Pothier, Finnish forward Oskar Osala and a second-round pick.

Defenseman Andrew Alberts was sent to the Vancouver Canucks for a third-round pick, and forward Stephane Yelle to the Colorado Avalanche.