Back in uniform after missing six games because of his latest episode of post-concussion symptoms, the Carolina Hurricanes center played only one shift in the third period of the 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Not because he couldn't. The Canes just didn't need him.

Ray Whitney, in his second game back from an ankle injury, sat out most of the third as well.

Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette deemed the players' removal from the game "precautionary."

"I felt pretty good," Cullen said. "Coach made the decision to let me rest, same as [Whitney]."

Cullen started the game between Sergei Samsonov and Tuomo Ruutu but played sparingly. Almost half his 10:29 of ice time came on the power play.

Whitney played 13:30 with Eric Staal and Erik Cole as the Canes shuffled their lines.

Cullen is the latest of Carolina's long-term wounded to return to action. Chad LaRose was back in the lineup Friday and Whitney and Justin Williams on Tuesday, although Williams lasted less than a period before injuring his back.

With Cullen back and Dennis Seidenberg in the lineup as a seventh defensemen, Jeff Hamilton joined Wade Brookbank and Tim Conboy as healthy scratches.

Since Brookbank was called up on Dec. 29, the Canes are 18-11-3 with him in the lineup and 5-5-0 without him, but he has sat out the past three games as the Canes have returned to health.

BAD NEWS FOR WILLIAMS: Justin Williams limped into the RBC Center for treatment Wednesday, clutching his back and barely able to walk.

After making his surprisingly quick return from knee surgery, he's out indefinitely.

Until the back starts to respond to treatment, the Canes can't even assess how long he'll be out.

"He threw out his back, and I don't have a definitive answer on that," coach Peter Laviolette said before the game.

TIP OF THE HAT: Chad LaRose's hat trick was his first in the NHL, but he had three for Lowell (AHL) during the 2004-05 season and another in 2005-06 before he was called up to Carolina.

Laviolette, told that LaRose claimed to have had a hat trick in the AHL, was skeptical.

"I'd check that," Laviolette said to laughter. "I'm happy for him. He's a guy who works as hard as he can every game for us."

WORKHORSE: Cam Ward's string of 19 straight starts is the longest by a Carolina goalie since Arturs Irbe started 26 straight games at the end of the 2000-01 season.

Irbe set the franchise record with 40 straight earlier that season. Ward has started 32 of Carolina's past 33 games.

BACK-TO-BACKS COMPLETE: Wednesday finished Carolina's 18th set of back-to-back games this season.

The Canes went 11-6-1 in first halves and 7-9-2 in second halves.

TAILWINDS: Casey Borer, who has played in 11 games for the Hurricanes this season, is out for the season after tearing ligaments in his right knee while playing for Albany (AHL). He'll have reconstructive surgery in Raleigh on Monday. ... Peter Laviolette pulled back to seven wins behind Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella among U.S.-born coaches. Tortorella, the all-time leader, has 239. Wednesday's victory was Laviolette's 232nd. ... The Hurricanes are 15-1-2 when scoring two or more power-play goals. They were 2-for-6 Wednesday.