COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Maybe Ken Hitchcock was being nice. Or coy. Or, perhaps, truthful.

The Columbus Blue Jackets coach said today he had watched tape of some of the Canes' recent games and has been surprised by what he saw.

"I can't figure it out," he said after the Jackets' morning skate at Nationwide Arena. "I just don't see the poor play that usually comes with losing."

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Lost in all the gloom and dejection of the Canes' 3-2 loss Friday to the Maple Leafs was that Zach Boychuk made his NHL debut this season and played well.

Let's just say the winger, called up Friday from Albany (AHL), played well enough to make coach Paul Maurice more than comfortable with what he saw on the ice.

"What you're hoping for, on a team struggling for offense, you're hoping fo offense," Maurice said today. "At the same time, you want to be abe to play the young player, so you want that confidence and comfort level as a coach."

The Hurricanes, winless in their last 10 games, are 30th in the NHL standings and the Toronto Maple Leafs 29th. So what kind of game will it be tonight at the RBC Center?

"9-8 tonight -- that's the prediction," Canes coach Paul Maurice said today after the morning skate.

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Canes defenseman Niclas Wallin has been with the team long enough to go through a lot of highs and lows.

A nine-game losing streak qualifies as a low. It also appears injured center Eric Staal might be out two-to-four weeks, not just a few games. Another low.

But Wallin said there has been enough talk and video sessions and practice and systems work and morale-building.

"There comes a point when you say, the heck with it, let's just go win a game," Wallin said today after the Canes' morning skate at BankAtlantic Center.

You would think that with how awful the Hurricanes have been to start the season, there would be no shortage of blame to go around -- players, management, coaching staff, everyone.

So it’s interesting that in general manager Jim Rutherford’s surprisingly critical self-analysis with the N&O’s Chip Alexander on Monday that he second-guessed himself for nearly everything he did, or didn’t do, in the summer -- everything except bringing back Paul Maurice.

The players stood in their spots and listened, and Paul Maurice lectured, and then they would try to do what he was telling them to do. Then he would correct them, and the players would switch places, and they would start again.

It was the kind of practice common during training camp, not November. For most teams, the teaching was conducted long ago, and practices at this point in the season are designed to maximize sharpness and efficiency.

There was a positive twist to the Canes' practice Thursday: for the first time since Oct. 3, the entire team was on the ice.

Forward Erik Cole, who suffered a leg fracture in the Boston game Oct. 3, wore a red jersey, went through all the drills and could return to the lineup this weekend, either against Philadelphia or the San Jose Sharks, coach Paul Maurice said. Defenseman Tim Gleason, out the last three games with an upper-body injury, was back in practice and probably will return to the lineup sometime next week.

Forward Tuomo Ruutu will end his three-game suspension and return for Sunday's game with the Sharks.

As for the practice, it was intense, and it should have been with the Canes winless in their last seven games and now 13th in the Eastern Conference.

For Erik Cole, it was a start, nothing more or less.

For the first time since suffering his leg fracture, the Canes' forward was back on the ice with his teammates, going through today's morning skate at the RBC Center. Cole wore a gold, non-contact jersey, but he was skating and cutting and getting in some work.

"It was just a pregame skate so we knew it wouldn't be anything too strenuous," Cole said. "I was on the ice beforehand, so it was to see if I could do some regular drills, the skating drills."

Sometimes, a few small changes can make a big difference. Coach Paul Maurice hopes that's the case with the Canes.

Maurice has shuffled the lines. He has moved Rod Brind'Amour from center to wing. He has Eric Staal on the point on the power play. He has the option of playing Jussi Jokinen at center or the wing -- the same for Brandon Sutter.

Will that translate into a victory Wednesday against the St. Louis Blues? No one can say, of course, but the Canes believe they're taking the right steps to ending their funk.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Despite all the commotion over Tuomo Ruutu's three-game suspension, the Hurricanes do have a game to play tonight against the Wild.

Cam Ward will again be in goal, coach Paul Maurice said. Maurice had hoped to give backup Michael Leighton his first start during this three-game trip but will go with Ward after the 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Islanders and the 5-4 loss to the Avalanche.

"The reason is this -- he's playing well, No. 1," Maurice said. "So it's not a matter of switching a goaltender to make a change.

"Secondly, we need to win. We need the group that's in there with a sense of urgency, to have that feeling that we want to get out of this. And Cam gives us the best
chance to do that right now."