Posted by Scott Burnside
PITTSBURGH -- The Carolina Hurricanes still aren't sure whether they'll have to try to even up their Eastern Conference finals series against the Pittsburgh Penguins sans two of their grittiest forwards.
Tuomo Ruutu left in the first period of Game 1 on Monday night and did not return after getting tangled up with Pittsburgh defenseman Mark Eaton, and Erik Cole left in the third after a knee-on-knee collision with Pittsburgh agitator Matt Cooke.
"It happened 12 hours ago. We're not going to know for a little while," Canes coach Paul Maurice told reporters Tuesday morning. "Haven't seen the guys. Usually they don't take my medical opinions anyway."
The loss of both players would be a significant blow to Carolina, which lost the series opener 3-2 and will want to apply as much physicality to the Penguins as it can.
"Well, they're important for exactly that reason. Ruutu didn't actually touch the puck in the first two series, he just hit everything that moved," Maurice said. "Erik … he was starting to get better and really move, so those are important pieces to what we do in our style. But it won't change our style that much. We still play pretty much the same way for everybody."
The players' teammates were hoping the extra off day before Game 2 on Thursday would be enough to see them recover.
"Obviously, both of them are big losses," Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason said. "You know, they're pretty tough guys. We're obviously looking forward to hopefully seeing them back soon -- if not tomorrow, Thursday. Like you said, they're two big, important pieces for us. We need them back as soon as we can. If they're ready to go Thursday, we're excited with that."
So, who would go into the Hurricanes' lineup if one or both can't go?
"I don't know the answer to that yet. It depends on how we restructure the lines," Maurice said. "It's not just the next guy in. It's this guy because we'll consider where [Jussi] Jokinen will go. Will he stay at center or move to the wing? That will affect who comes in. But we've got nine extra guys, so we're not going to be short bodies."
Ryan Bayda and Dwight Helminen have both played in the playoffs and could be pressed into service. Patrick Dwyer took warm-ups at one point in the playoffs and also could be an option. Brandon Sutter played 50 games for the Canes this season and also could be in the mix.
ESPN.com Stanley Cup playoffs blog
