RALEIGH - Erik Cole isn't quite ready to say that being dragged off the ice on a stretcher was a blessing in disguise.

Still, as the Carolina Hurricanes forward returned to the ice in Friday's 4-3 comeback win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, he is willing to say that the strained neck that kept him out of four games may have represented a turning point in his long-term recovery from the broken neck he suffered in March 2006.

Instead of trying to strengthen the neck, as he had been since the original fracture, the latest injury shifted his focus to flexibility.

"I definitely feel looser," Cole said. "I don't feel near as stiff and my neck's not as stiff. I had just been average when I sustained the hit, but this should limit the number of 'stingers' that I get through the course of the season and make things easier on a day-to-day basis."

Whether it's the flexibility or the time off, Cole certainly looked fresher Friday. He laid an open-ice hit on Paul Ranger, picked up an assist on Carolina's first goal and pick-pocketed Martin St. Louis to break up an odd-man rush -- all in the first seven minutes.

He picked up another assist on Glen Wesley's winning goal for his fourth multi-point game of the season.

"He started the game with a purpose," Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said. "He got right back into it, and I think he wanted to bang some bodies and prove that his neck was OK to himself."

Cole was injured on Nov. 12 when he crashed headfirst into Florida Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun. While that appeared to be a significant setback at the time, Cole now sees it as progress.

"I felt like maybe I can start over and rehab the other way," Cole said. "We got it to stiffen up and protect the fracture site and now we can leave that fracture site alone and let that tighten up and work on everything else."

ONE TO GO: Lightning fan Steve Williamson reached the second-to-last stop on his quest to visit all 30 NHL arenas in 30 days Friday.

After watching the Lightning play the Hurricanes at the RBC Center, the Orlando, Fla., resident is scheduled to complete his quest today in Tampa by watching the Lightning take on the New Jersey Devils.

His travels are documented at www.30gamesin30nights.com, from oversleeping in San Jose, Calif. -- a narrow escape -- to food poisoning in Edmonton to a late, late night in Buffalo, N.Y., on Thursday.

"What will stick with me the longest is the passion fans have for hockey," Williamson said. "I figured I'd be running into people here and there, but I have made friends I'll have for 20 years. They all share the love of the game."

BACKING IT UP: Tim Gleason's comments Thursday that the Canes needed to stop Vincent Lecavalier's line because beyond that, "they got nothing," ended up on the Lightning bulletin board.

"I figured they would," Gleason said.

While Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Vaclav Prospal combined for five points, the rest of the Lightning had four.

And Gleason had an assist in the Canes' third-period rally, so as far as he's concerned, that's backing up his talk.

"I'd like to say it is," he said. "When I said 'shut those guys down,' obviously we didn't, but when there's a will, there's a way. That's exactly what happened tonight."