Canes Reset in Raleigh Before Back-to-Back in Columbus

The wind gusted as the Carolina Hurricanes boarded the plane on a snow-covered tarmac in Chicago on Thursday night.
It made an already icy night even more frigid, the cold snap gripping the Canes just as reality had earlier that night at the rink.

The Canes saw their five-game winning streak end in a 6-4 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. The team didn't have its usual swagger. The penalty kill was uncharacteristically penetrable, and the power play sputtered. The Canes were out of sync and, really, just not very good.
"We didn't play how we want to play, our identity," Dougie Hamilton said. "We need to be better. It's a little bit of a wake-up call for us."
Traveling back to Raleigh in between their two-game set in Chicago and a back-to-back in Columbus allowed the Canes to breathe and press the reset button.
Instead of sitting around in a hotel on Friday, they spent a day off with family at home, away from the rink.
"You're always focused on the next day. … We're not going to dwell on it too much," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said on Thursday. "There's a way we have to play to be successful, and we have to get back to it."
The team was back on the ice at Wake Competition Center on Saturday morning with a chance to course correct and reestablish their identity.
But let's zoom out. The Canes are 6-2-0, and their .750 points percentage is third-best in the Central Division.
It's certainly no time to press the panic button, but the fact that the Canes recognize deficiencies in their game and aren't content with the state of the team underscores the championship mentality that lives and breathes in the locker room.
"The last two games have been just OK. I think this team has a long way to go, but we're certainly on the right direction. We have great leaders on the team," offered Justin Williams, now a member of the front office, when he was asked
his thoughts on the season
. "Once everybody plays catch-up, we're one of the best teams in the league."
The Canes have cleared their early-season COVID-19 hurdles, with Jesper Fast, the last addition to the protocol list, back at practice on Saturday and set to return to the lineup on Sunday.
Fast said he was "climbing the walls" in his room while waiting out a "boring" and "not the most fun" quarantine period.

"I'm happy to be out now, and I'm feeling good," he said.
The Canes' injury list swelled on Thursday with the addition of Martin Necas, whose helmeted head bounced off the ice after a clean but heavy hit from former teammate Calvin de Haan late in regulation. Though he was around the practice facility on Saturday, he did not practice or travel to Columbus with the team.
"He's going to be out for a little while, but I don't think it's going to be very long," Brind'Amour said of Necas' upper-body injury.
The injury list also includes Max McCormick (upper body) and Petr Mrazek, who underwent surgery on his right thumb last week and whose return timetable should be clearer in the coming days.
Alex Nedeljkovic is likely to get a start during the Canes' back-to-back set in Columbus. Nedeljkovic, a native of Parma, Ohio, made his NHL debut in Columbus on Jan. 17, 2017, when he made 17 saves on 17 shots in a relief appearance.

"It'd be awesome if the fans were there and I could have some family down. It would obviously be a lot more special. But any time you can play close to home, it's something cool," he said. "I grew up watching those guys. It will be a fun time if I can get in one."
The Canes and Blue Jackets face off at 3 p.m. on Sunday, followed by a 7 p.m. puck drop on Monday.