My column for tomorrow's paper is about the changes Kirk Muller has made to the power play, and how they're starting to show results, but the comparison between what he's doing here and what he did in Montreal last season bears some further examination.

Montreal's efficiency jumped four percentage points in the final 35 regular-season and playoff games, and P.K. Subban scored seven of his 11 power-play goals over that span. Over the past four games, Carolina is converting at a 24.0 percent clip, up from 12.2 percent under Paul Maurice.

Muller has given new roles to Justin Faulk and Tim Brent on the first unit, and he's starting to see results.

We're less than an hour away from the press conference introducing Kirk Muller as the Hurricanes' new head coach, and with a game tomorrow against the Florida Panthers -- one of his former teams -- he won't have much time to get his feet on the ground.

In the short term, though, there are two areas where he may be able to have a major, immediate impact on the Hurricanes: the power play, and Eric Staal.

NEW YORK — When the NHL schedule for this season was released, Eric Staal thought this might be an interesting, perhaps special weekend.

Staal would face his brother, Marc, tonight when the Canes took on the New York Rangers. Tomorrow night, it would be brother Jordan and the Pittsburgh Penguins. And, possibly, Sidney Crosby.

Instead, there will be no Marc Staal. There will be no Sidney Crosby. Both continue to be sidelined with post-concussion symptoms -- Staal from the hit he took from Eric in a Feb. 22 game in Raleigh.

"It will be different," Eric said today. "Every time I play the Rangers it's a battle (with Marc), it's competitive. I'm going usually head-to-head with him."

NEWARK — Eric Staal was one of the last Canes off the ice this morning at the Prudential Center, and the media was waiting.

Nothing was asked about tonight's game with the New Jersey Devils. The questions that peppered the Canes captain all dealt with his brother, Marc, and the concussion the New York Rangers defenseman suffered from a hit by Eric in a February game at the RBC Center and Marc's lingering post-concussion woes.

The questioning started with: "You did know it was your brother?"

Eric: "It was a quick reaction. Regardless if it was him or anyone else it would have been the same play: be physical and go for the puck. After I hit him and he was down I knew it was him."

Canes captain Eric Staal took to the ice today at Raleigh Center Ice, determined to put the last two games behind him and his team.

Losing to the Washington Capitals and Dallas Stars, by a combined 10-3 score, at home, was not what anyone wanted. But Staal said the only thing that can be done now is to go New Jersey prepared -- physically, emotionally -- to beat the Devils on Tuesday.

"We're looking forward to playing in New Jersey, getting out there and trying to right the ship," Staal said after today's practice. "We need to compete harder than we did last night. Overall, I think we need to get a little tighter everywhere."

The first time the Canes played the Washington Capitals, Eric Staal had two goals and an assist. Both goals came on the power play but they weren't enough to pull out a victory as the Caps won 4-3 in overtime.

"I felt good that night," Staal said today. "I obviously scored two power-play goals, which is nice, and it was early in the year."

Since that early October night in D.C., in the Canes' second game of the season, Staal has one goal and one assist. That's 10 games and two points, and the captain has been a collective minus-9 in those games.

"It's tough, no question," Staal said "You want to score as much as you can."

When the Charlotte Checkers open the AHL Eastern Conference finals Thursday at home, it represents the deepest a Carolina Hurricanes farm team has gone in the playoffs since 1997, when the Springfield Falcons made it to this point in the AHL playoffs.

The Falcons -- coached by Kevin McCarthy -- lost to the Hershey Bears, who went on to win the Calder Cup. Three times since, the Hurricanes’ minor-league affiliate has won one playoff round, but this year’s Checkers are the first to win two.

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 — Just as the Carolina Hurricanes grabbed the eighth and final playoff position with 29 games left, they head out on their last extended road trip of the regular season.

Their next five games are on the road, though the team will be able to stop back in Raleigh before it's over.

The road trip includes the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Atlanta Thrashers and two games at the New Jersey Devils, who, despite struggling for much of the season, have won nine of their last 12 games.

"We're going to play some very difficult teams at home and New Jersey now has moved up to one of the elite teams," Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said at the RecZone Monday, before the team boarded a plane bound for north Jersey.

RALEIGH — Team Lidstrom, after falling behind, captured a 11-10 win over the home crowd-supported Team Staal in the 58th NHL All-Star Game at the RBC Center.