Canes hit road without Staal

RALEIGH -- The equipment bags, each with a player's number, were being loaded up Tuesday for the Carolina Hurricanes' flight to Florida.

No. 30, No. 77, No. 7, No. 24 ... the red bags were being stacked on top of each other in the Canes' locker room. With one notable absence: There was no No. 12 bag.

In Eric Staal's locker were his skates, helmets, gloves and other equipment. For the first time since March 19, 2004, Staal will not be in the lineup when the Hurricanes face the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla.

The center left Sunday's game against San Jose after the second period for what is being deemed an "upper-body" injury, and Canes coach Paul Maurice said Tuesday his status is "week-to-week."

"We're not looking at it as several [games]," Maurice said. "[But] we're not expecting him for the weekend."

The Canes, winless in their last nine games, play the Toronto Maple Leafs at home on Friday and then are on the road Saturday for the Columbus Blue Jackets, so that should be at least three games Staal will be sidelined. Since joining the NHL in 2003, Staal has missed just the March 2004 game and had stretched his streak of consecutive regular-season games to 349, plus another 43 in the playoffs.

"It's going to be hard not having 12 around, for sure," winger Sergei Samsonov said. "It'll be strange. He had a pretty amazing streak going.

"He plays a lot of minutes, a lot of important minutes. Normally when guys like that go out you have to pick your game up, and I think we will. I don't think anybody is giving up in this room."

Staal has just three goals and two assists in the first 13 games and had been slowed by a number of things, including a slight groin pull. He has logged a lot of ice time, being used on both the power play and penalty kill teams.

"There's no question he's been laboring," Maurice said of Staal. "There's great opportunities now for other guys to get more ice."

Jussi Jokinen took over as the center on Staal's line in Tuesday's practice with Erik Cole and Tuomo Ruutu on the wings. Ray Whitney and Chad LaRose will be the wingers on Matt Cullen's line.

"Jokinen has always had the hand-set and the brain-set to play," Maurice said. "A lot of times maybe he doesn't get to play with people who are able to best utilize his skills, but he's going to get the chance now. He's got some speed and some size on his wings [and] he's got a real comfort level with Ruutu.

"Those top two lines look like our lines looked when we were going last year, minus Eric. ... We're trying to get back to all hands on deck and get everybody going."

Defenseman Tim Gleason, out five games with an upper-body injury, will rejoin the lineup and should be teamed with Joe Corvo. Aaron Ward and Joni Pitkanen will be paired defensively along with Niclas Wallin and Andrew Alberts.

Cole missed 10 games after suffering a leg fracture in the Canes' second game, at Boston. He returned Sunday for the San Jose game and was back on the line with Staal, only to have Staal go out.

"I said something to him this morning like, 'What are you doing?' " Cole said with a slight smile. "But you can't control how things like that happen.

"He's a guy who has played a lot of games in a row. He's only missed one game, in his rookie year, with a hip-pointer or something like that. ... Hopefully this will heal quickly and give him a chance to rest and rejuvenate."

The Hurricanes' last victory seems eons ago. It was Oct. 9, at the RBC Center, against the Panthers and the Canes rolled 7-2.

In the losing streak, there has been a growing lack of confidence that seemingly has its grip on everyone - a strain that has no vaccine.

But the Hurricanes must find a way to rekindle that confidence, and without Staal for a while.

"We know we're going to need more from everyone else but that's how this team is built," Cole said. "We're built with depth. We have a lot of guys who can step up and play big roles at any given time during the year.

"Unfortunately, we haven't had a lot of success here in the early going, but I think maybe this is a good opportunity for all of us to step up our game a little bit and make up for the lack of having Eric out of the lineup."

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