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.

The Pittsburgh Penguins keep losing players. And adding players.

The Pens today acquired veteran forward Alex Kovalev from the Ottawa Senators, TSN is reporting. Earlier this week, Pittsburgh traded for forward James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskonen in a deal with the Dallas Stars.

The Pens, who face the Canes tomorrow night at the RBC Center, had defenseman Brooks Orpik suffer a hand injury Wednesday night in the loss to the San Jose Sharks. Orpik joins a lengthening injury list that includes Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz, Paul Martin, Mark Letestu and others.

The Canes, in contrast, have one player out: fourth-line center Ryan Carter, who missed practice today and is being called day-to-day by coach Paul Maurice.

The Carolina Hurricanes reassigned forward Jon Matsumoto to the team's AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers on Tuesday.

Matsumoto had been called up on Jan. 7 and played in the Canes last two games.

With forwards Jussi Jokinen and Jiri Tlusty and most recently Ryan Carter out with injuries, Matsumoto followed Charlotte teammates Zach Boychuk and Zac Dalpe in being called up to the Hurricanes.

Troy Bodie and Ryan Carter knew this day, this game, this opponent, was coming.

"I've had this date marked on my calendar," Bodie said.

Until last month, Bodie and Carter played for the Anaheim Ducks, and Carter was part of their Stanley Cup run in 2007. But that all changed when Bodie was put on waivers by Anaheim and claimed by the Canes, and Carter then was traded to Carolina.

Tonight, the Ducks will be the guys in the other sweaters trying to beat the Canes at the RBC Center. Friends and former teammates but ...

"But now it's all business," a smiling Bodie said after today's morning skate at the RecZone. "I had a good chat with a couple of them yesterday but now they're the enemy."

It's already shaping up as a pretty big day for the Hurricanes.

Cam Ward's wife, Cody, gave birth to a son, Nolan Kennedy, at 6:33 a.m. That's big news.

"It drops our age a little bit as a team," Canes coach Paul Maurice quipped today.

Then there's Eric Staal. The Canes captain will be playing his 500th career game tonight against the Washington Capitals. That's a milestone.

Finally, the Canes again have a new face in the room.