RALEIGH -- A week from Thanksgiving, could the Carolina Hurricanes' season already be reaching the critical point?
"That might be stretching it a little too much," general manager Jim Rutherford said Wednesday. "We're certainly at an important point, but I would not use the word 'critical.' We're not at that point yet."
But the Hurricanes, who host the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at the RBC Center (7 p.m., FSCR), are ailing. Center Eric Staal, who has missed the past seven games with an upper-body injury, still may be a week from returning. Goaltender Cam Ward continues to heal from a leg laceration suffered Nov. 7 against the Blue Jackets in Columbus, Ohio, and has been placed on long-term injured reserve.
The Hurricanes are down two goalies. Michael Leighton suffered an apparent groin injury Tuesday in the second period of the Canes' 3-2 shootout loss to the Canadiens in Montreal.
The Hurricanes called up goaltender Justin Peters on Wednesday from the Albany River Rats, their American Hockey League affiliate. Peters will back up Manny Legace, the veteran goalie Carolina signed out of the AHL after Ward's injury.
Being placed on long-term injured reserve, Rutherford said, means Ward must be out a total of 10 games or 24 days. Rutherford said the Canes are targeting the Dec. 5 home game against the Vancouver Canucks for Ward's return.
"We're hopeful of that," he said. "That would be the earliest. It may be longer."
Placing Ward on the LTIR, Rutherford said, frees up space under the salary cap - Ward's annual cap hit is $2.667 million. The Hurricanes also reassigned forward/defenseman Tim Conboy to Albany on Wednesday.
Making those moves "gives us some flexibility, a little cushion," Rutherford said.
Defenseman Joni Pitkanen and Scott Walker missed the Montreal game with injuries, and their return is uncertain. Rutherford said a decision would be made today on bringing up a forward from Albany, saying it probably would be Jerome Samson or Patrick Dwyer.
"Our team has actually battled pretty hard," coach Paul Maurice said after the loss to the Canadiens. "We haven't had a lot of easy things happen to us on the ice, but they have competed.
"We've got some key pieces out, so it's not going to be fancy. ... When you take a Staal, a Ward, Pitkanen and Walker out of your lineup, there's going to be some parts of your game you don't like. At the same time, I thought we played a pretty smart game."
After a 14-game winless streak, squeezing four points out of the past three games must seem like progress for the Hurricanes. But it could have been better for a team desperately in need of points at 3-12-5.
Against the New York Islanders on Friday, the Canes rallied from a 3-0 deficit to force a tie and had the Isles at the breaking point. But the Canes lost 4-3.
Carolina then lost a three-goal lead to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday but did win a shootout 5-4. That ended the streak and was the Canes' first two-point game since Oct. 9.
The Hurricanes outplayed the Canadiens at the Bell Centre for much of Tuesday's game. Leighton went out with Carolina leading 2-1, but Legace jumped in and appeared solid enough in net.
"The guys played great in front of me," Legace said. "Then, a cheesy goal."
Andrei Kostitsyn tied the score 2-2 with 2:46 left in the third on a shot that Legace said glanced off the heel of his stick. Carolina failed to take advantage of a power play late in overtime, and the Canadiens won in the shootout. Montreal's Carey Price stopped all six Canes shooters, and Maxim Lapierre scored for the Habs in the sixth round.
"I think we played the perfect road game, but they got the lucky bounce," said forward Jussi Jokinen, whose second-period goal gave the Canes a 2-1 lead. "We had 4-on-3 for two minutes and had some good looks in overtime but just couldn't score.
"This one feels bad. Manny [Legace] kept us in the game, and for sure we have to get one more goal."
Though he would have liked two points for a win, Rutherford said he liked the look of his team at the Bell Centre.
"We've been working hard in this stretch of games but have not been a confident team," Rutherford said. "For the first time, I thought we played with confidence and a good work ethic.
"If we can take that to the next game, and the next game, we have a chance to get back on track."
