3-1-1 on the trip and 4-1-1 overall, the defending Metropolitan Division Champions were thrilled to be back in Raleigh after earning points in four out of five games.
"It feels really good to be back," Jaccob Slavin said with a laugh following the team's skate. "It was a really long trip. Obviously we wish we could've brought back all ten points, but for the most part it was a successful first road trip of the year."
Several players, both throughout the trip and in retrospect, shared that the trip felt long, playing just five games in a little under two weeks. In total they spent approximately 18 hours on the team's plane, leaving from Raleigh on October 13 and traveling to San Jose, Seattle, Edmonton and Calgary before eventually returning home from Vancouver Tuesday.
"The way the trip was set up, you played a game, then you had two off days. Played a game, off days," Slavin reasoned. "I feel like most times when you go on a five-game road trip you end up having a back-to-back in there somewhere. The long travel days, mix those in there and all of that put together just makes it feel long."
The team did their best to manage that time off though, hosting a team fishing trip in Seattle during their break and then giving the guys a complete off day in Vancouver before the trip's finale.
Despite the duration of the excursion west, the team's head coach was very pleased with how the stretch went.
"I loved the way we played. I loved how hard we played," Rod Brind'Amour began with Wednesday afternoon when speaking with reporters. "I didn't see any lulls in our game. The second period in Calgary I didn't like because we got into penalty trouble. Top to bottom though, everybody worked hard and competed. I think we really could've gotten more results than we did."
Highlighted by the hot starts to the season from Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas, who have combined for 26 points through six games, the team now turns their attention to an upcoming weekend back-to-back. Carolina will welcome the New York Islanders to town Friday before quickly turning around and hitting the skies once again immediately post-game. They'll take on the Flyers Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Today's skate had mostly good attendance, however, the group was missing three skaters.
Veterans Calvin de Haan and Derek Stepan had maintenance days, while forward Ondrej Kase remains in concussion protocol. The first-year Hurricane traveled with the team from North Carolina to California on October 13, but made the return flight the very next day before playing in another game.
"We're in a much different time than back in the day. As soon as someone has any kind of hiccup or is not feeling right, they're out]," Brind'Amour said of Kase. "Especially with the history that he has, we want to definitely err on the side of caution. That's all I can tell you."
The team is scheduled to practice again Thursday at PNC Arena.
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