Back 2 Good
The Canes are expected to get Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin and Teuvo Teravainen back in the lineup after they each missed the last three games while on the COVID-19 Protocol list.
While they were out, though, the Canes secured six of a possible six points against the 2020 Stanley Cup finalists. They did so through timely contributions from their skill players and a
next-man-up attitude
that permeated through the lineup.
"In other sports the best players have more impact. Basketball, for example, a guy plays almost the whole game. In hockey, you need to rely on so many guys all the time, different players. The best players only play a third of the game, generally. You rely on all 20 guys in hockey," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "As long as you have enough skill and talent - which we do - you can make do, as long as you bring the work ethic. I think you can kind of cancel it out a little bit. That puts a little more pressure on the talent you do have in there to produce, but if everyone brings their A-game and follows the system we're trying to play, we have a chance to win every night."
Unwell
It isn't all good news on the player availability front for the Canes, who are now expected to be without goaltender Petr Mrazek for
longer than initially thought
. Mrazek left Saturday's game against Dallas early in the first period with an upper-body injury after a friendly fire collision in his crease. Further evaluation since might lead to surgery for the Canes' netminder.
"It's looking like that's probably what's going to happen," Brind'Amour said. "It's a more serious injury than we had hoped."
James Reimer, who is 15-2-2 with a 2.38 goals-against average, a .920 save percentage and three shutouts in his last 20 regular-season appearances with the Canes, and Alex Nedeljkovic will handle goaltending duties in the interim, while Antoine Bibeau will be recalled to the taxi squad to serve as the team's third netminder.
