Good Health: Canes Welcome Lineup Returns Amid West Coast Swing

LAS VEGAS, NV. - They say health is wealth and if that is true, the Carolina Hurricanes have gotten a lot richer over the last few days.
Since the team's 6-3 win over the Blackhawks on Friday, October 29, the team's been hit with a slew of players coming out of the lineup due to injuries and illnesses.

In total, five of the team's 20 players from their opening night roster found themselves on the shelf within a span of two weeks. First it was Nino Niederreiter sidelined with a lower-body issue, and then it was Brett Pesce after a nasty collision into the boards. Antti Raanta was run into in Florida and lastly a non-COVID illness took a toll on Jesper Fast and Martin Necas.
The motto for the team, spearheaded by Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour, has been "next man up" - a common phrase for any situation involving these circumstances. Those men certainly did step up, as we have seen with Brendan Smith, who emerged due to the absence of Pesce, scoring the game-winning goal to defeat St. Louis last Friday. Goaltender Alex Lyon earned a win for the team in his first appearance, easing the workload of Frederik Andersen in the second half of the team's back-to-back set. Josh Leivo, who had three points in three games in the American Hockey League before being recalled, stepped in when the team's forward depth took a dent.
While it's clear that those who were provided the heightened opportunity have met the required needs, it's also certainly welcomed that almost all of the aforementioned scratches have returned to the lineup, three of them Tuesday in Vegas.
"It's just good that we're getting healthy, number one," Brind'Amour shared after the team's practice Wednesday. "You get a sense of 'this is our team'. Like we said at the end of the night last night, it possesses a little bit of a problem too though because then we have healthy guys that we have to sit out, guys who certainly don't deserve to be out. It's a good problem to have when a lot of good quality players."
Martin Necas, who missed the team's games against Philadelphia and St. Louis over the weekend, made his presence felt in his return in the club's
4-2 win over 
less than 24 hours ago.
Credited with a pair of assists, the Czech forward contributed not only his points, but also,
courtesy of Natural Stat Trick
, data shows that when #88 was on the ice last night at five-on-five, his team dominated shot attempts, 19-1.

Antti Raanta, who shared that he felt fortunate only having to miss three games due to his ailment, was a star in the victory as well, producing a performance that would have been perfect if not for a 79-second stretch by the home team. The netminder made three highlight reel saves in the second period to avoid the opposition adding a go-ahead goal.
Even Nino Niederreiter, who admitted that his output was not his best ever, was just happy on the ice with his team.
"I felt a bit sloppy, to be honest. It's always tough coming back from an injury," the team's Swiss forward began. "The game is fast and you can't practice that. Overall though it felt good and I'm glad to be back."
Despite agreeing the player's self-assessment, the head coach is not worried about the left-handed power forward.
"He's going to get better," Brind'Amour said. " It's hard to have just one practice and expect him to be at game speed. He was really good coming out of training camp and he'll get back to that."
The last remaining piece to the puzzle to be put back in place is the right-handed blueliner, Brett Pesce. Despite his unfortunate spill that looked like it could keep him out of the lineup for more than just a handful of games, he appears to be set to return either tomorrow in Anaheim or Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles.
So, with at least four out of the five back in the fold, the team travels to Anaheim today before the second contest on their six-game swing, coming against a Ducks team that has won eight in a row.
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