Canes looking for answers

Laviolette wants his team to get off to a better start, avoid falling behind early

As Philadelphia Flyers coach John Stevens put it, there's no need to review.

In fact, Stevens gladly would take a replay.

The Flyers, getting two goals and an assist from Simon Gagne, stopped the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 Wednesday night at the RBC Center. Today at 1 p.m., the two teams face off again at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

No need to review any video or go over any scouting report. Just lace 'em up and go again.

Stevens had few complaints about Wednesday's game. The Flyers now have won six straight and he got a strong game in goal from his backup goaltender, Antero Niittymaki. Today, he will have his No. 1 guy, Martin Biron, starting in goal.

As for the Canes and coach Peter Laviolette, they need to avoid a replay of a helter-skelter first-period performance Laviolette tartly likened to "pond hockey." The Hurricanes mustered one shot on goal and were fortunate to trail 1-0 at the break.

"They got opportunities and we got nothing," Laviolette said.

One sequence in the opening period was symbolic of the Canes' frustrations and futility in what now is a three-game losing streak. It came early in the period and resulted in Gagne's first goal.

Just after the Canes killed off a penalty, there was a traffic jam in front of the Carolina goal, with Hurricanes seemingly all around the puck and Brandon Sutter trying to collapse on it. But the puck was tipped off a skate by the Flyers' Scott Hartnell and Gagne, more or less a bystander, suddenly had an open net.

"The first period was a reflection of our game [and] the only thing I thought was good was the penalty kill," Laviolette said. "We killed it off and got to that scrum in front of our net. We went to clear the puck and it hit off a skate and went to Gagne on the backdoor.

"Short of that, it was lethargic."

Laviolette had said he liked the early jump of his team Monday at Florida, even though the Panthers led 2-0 after the first period and went on to win 3-2. But he had some scathing words for his team in the dressing room after the first period Wednesday.

"No one really had to say anything," forward Tuomo Ruutu said. "We knew we just had one shot in our own building and that's embarrassing. Everybody knew something had to happen.

"We were better in the second and third [periods] but we've got to learn from this and start better in the first. It feels like after every first period we're down one or two goals, and it's tough to come back in this league."

Especially against the Flyers. Philadelphia is now 10-1-2 when scoring first and 7-1-1 when leading after the first period.

Gagne now has 13 goals and 17 assists in his stirring comeback from a concussion that knocked him out of much of last season. Jeff Carter, who assisted on Gagne's first score, has 15 goals and captain Mike Richards has 22 points for the year.

The Canes' most effective scorer the last three games -- read into it what you will -- has been Chad LaRose. The 5-foot-10 winger has goals in each game and seven for the season. That's just four off his career high set last season in 58 games.

A big concern for the Hurricanes is the status of forward Scott Walker, who went out with a lower-body injury in the first period and did not return. It was not known Thursday if Walker would be able to play today.

But the Canes' mental state after the three losses may be just as important as its physical state, Ruutu said.

"We need to have better emotion before the game, for the first period," Ruutu said. "I think it's all in our heads. I don't think it's about systems or anything like that.

"We've got to prepare better. We've got to be ready for the first period from the time the puck drops."