Canes' future difficult to gauge

Thirty games have gone into the books for the Carolina Hurricanes this season -- some good, some bad, some hard to judge.

Thirty skaters have taken to the ice for the Canes, putting them among the NHL leaders in a category no team wants to lead.

A coaching change, always an emotional thing, has been made -- out with Peter Laviolette, in with Paul Maurice. The impact of that move, too, still is hard to judge after just five games.

The Hurricanes (13-12-5) now stand eight points behind the Washington Capitals in the Southeast Division. They've had some thrilling wins and some losses that felt like a hard kick in the stomach.

Taking to the road late last week for games against Philadelphia and the New York Rangers, Canes twice were shootout losers. After losing their grip on a 5-1 lead and losing 6-5 to the Flyers, the Hurricanes battled hard against the Rangers on Saturday only to lose 3-2 on Chris Drury's goal in the fifth round of the shootout.

Asked what the Canes got out of the two games, Maurice dryly said, "Two points. Other than that, they don't give anything else for 'em."

Maurice, standing outside a somber locker room at Madison Square Garden, noted his team does not have a regulation loss in its past four games.

"But we can't throw too many parties for that because we played well enough to have a better fate," he said. "Right now, sometimes when you look at the schedule we've got, we've just got to keep the faith and keep going."

Tuomo Ruutu and Ray Whitney each scored their 10th goals of the season for the Canes on Saturday, with Whitney extending his points streak to five games. The Canes trailed 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period but carried the play in the second and had any number of chances to win in the third and overtime.

But the Rangers, the NHL leaders in the penalty kill, got a big game in net from Henrik Lundqvist and snuffed out eight Hurricanes power plays. The Canes twice had a two-man advantage -- including two full minutes in the third period -- but couldn't score.

The Rangers, in turn, got a short-handed goal from Blair Betts and nearly had another from Drury late in regulation. New York also picked up a power-play goal in the first from Markus Naslund.

"It's tough to swallow," the Canes' Eric Staal said. "We wanted to capitalize on the 5-on-3 -- we had two minutes at it and some looks, but not to the back of the net and that's where it needs to go."

But there were some positives for Carolina. Cam Ward was back in goal after missing four games with a groin injury. Defenseman Tim Gleason, out eight games with a leg injury, returned to the lineup, as did defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, who has been slowed by a groin pull.

"I felt great," Ward said. "I felt I was moving really well."

Well enough to impress his new coach.

"I'd like to see a whole lot more of him," Maurice said with a grin.

Seidenberg had nearly 25 minutes of ice time and Gleason 18:26, with Maurice relying less on the recent callups from Albany -- Brett Carson, Bryan Rodney and Tim Conboy. Rodney, who made his NHL debut Thursday and played two games, was reassigned to the River Rats on Sunday.

"It was a good effort. We did a lot of good things," the Canes' Rod Brind'Amour said. "Our defense played really solid, I think, especially considering all the injuries. The guys have stepped up and the young kids are playing really well. That's a positive.

"We've just got to get our power play clicking, and I think we would have walked away with two wins."

Maurice said he liked the vibe on the bench during the game, right up to the end of the shootout.

"We're trying to get to the point that the other team's scoring really has no effect on our game, or being down 2-1 really isn't that big a deal," he said. "I didn't feel it on the bench anyway. I know it's been a problem here, but the guys are trying to stay upbeat and trying to stay positive.

"When you look at our December schedule, there's no weak sisters in that schedule. We've had to go through some injuries and I think we're on the right track."