Quick hits from the morning skate: Canes-Pens
Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk was back on the ice Friday, if only briefly.
Faulk, injured Thursday in practice, did some light skating at PNC Arena before the Canes’ scheduled 10:30 a.m. morning skate. Canes coach Bill Peters later said Faulk’s availability for Friday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins would be a game-time decision, but said Faulk may play.
Faulk, who leads the Canes in points, took a hard spill into the boards after a collision with forward Brad Malone and was favoring a leg. He was able to leave the ice at Raleigh Center Ice without being assisted and was treated by trainer Pete Friesen.
The Canes activated defenseman Brett Pesce off injured reserve Friday. Pesce has missed the past three games with a foot injury.
With Faulk out of the morning skate, the defensive pairs were Ron Hainsey-Jaccob Slavin, John-Michael Liles-Pesce and Noah Hanifin-Michal Jordan.
-- Few were happier or more pleased about the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run than Jim Rutherford, then the team president and general manager.
Rutherford, now the Penguins’ GM, accompanied the Pens to Raleigh for Friday’s game and plans to attend a players dinner Saturday night honoring the 2006 champions.
“I have great memories here and this is such a special weekend, too, for the special year we have the special run for the Cup,” Rutherford said Friday at PNC Arena.
Rutherford noted in assembling the 2005-2006 team, in the year after the NHL lockout, he tried his best to sign free-agent forward Paul Kariya. That offseason deal fell through when Kariya signed with Nashville, much to Rutherford’s disappointment, but Rutherford then secured another free agent, forward Ray Whitney.
Rutherford continued to add players during the season — Doug Weight, Mark Recchi. It all came together for Carolina.
“It was just one of those years where everything meshed,” Rutherford said. “It was the right group of guys who really liked each other, and they were determined they were going to win.”
-- Canes center Jordan Staal, who helped the Pens win the 2009 Stanley Cup, has been playing his best hockey as a Hurricane. In the past 14 games, Staal has five goals and 11 assists and a plus-14 plus/minus rating. …
The Canes’ Jeff Skinner has points in his last five games (2 goals, 4 assists), one game shy of tying his career high. … Sidney Crosby’s 11-game point streak ended Wednesday in the Pens’ 3-0 loss to the New York Rangers. Crosby also had a seven-game goal-scoring streak end in that game. …
This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Quick hits from the morning skate: Canes-Pens."