Canes center Matt Cullen was back on the ice today for the first playoff practice at the RBC Center.

Cullen missed the last eight games of the regular season with a foot injury but did do some skating on his own last week.

"It's good to back out there and get some timing back," Cullen said. "You never know what to expect. Every injury is different in how it reacts and how long it takes you to get back."

We know the opponent, know the seedings and know the playoff schedule. It's the Canes and Devils, again, and it starts Wednesday in Newark.

So let's keep it short and simple today:

What do you like the most about the Canes heading into the playoffs and what worries you the most? Can they make a deep run, even grab the Cup again, or could it be one and done?

The floor is open.

The Canes will open their Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., the NHL announced late Sunday night.

The first two games of the best-of-seven series will be played at the Prudential Center in Newark — Wednesday and Friday. The series then shifts back to the RBC Center for two games, Sunday (April 19) and Tuesday (April 21).

Game Five, if necessary, will be Thursday, April 23 in Newark and Game Six on Sunday, April 26 at the RBC Center. If it goes to a seventh game, it would be Tuesday, April 28 in Newark.

All games other than Game Six have 7:30 starting times and will be televised by Fox Sports Carolinas and TSN. Game Six would be shown by Versus and TSN, with a starting time to be determined.

NEWARK, N.J. — Canes coach Paul Maurice seemed to have that feeling. So did Eric Staal.

While nothing had been determined after the Canes' 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon, and it was still possible Carolina could finish fifth in the Eastern Conference, there appeared to be a sense that the Hurricanes would be back in the Prudential Center this week for the opening round of the playoffs.

Asked if he thought it would be the Canes and Devils in the opening round, Maurice said, "Yeah, I would think so. That looks like the way it's going to play out."

And it did. The Pittsburgh Penguins won 3-1 in Montreal on Saturday night, taking the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference away from Carolina and pushing the Canes into sixth versus the third-seeded Devils.

Join Hurricanes beat writer Chip Alexander at 1 p.m to talk about the last week of the regular season, potential playoff matchups and everything else Canes.

We all know there are five games still to be played, anything can happen, the Canes have fallen short before, there's a lot of hockey left — all that.

But let's say the Canes do make the Stanley Cup playoffs. We've seen 'em play the Bruins, Caps, Devils and Flyers.

Question: Should the Canes make it, which team would they match up best against in the first round, and why?

The floor is open.