The Tampa Bay Lightning enter tonight's game against division rival Carolina looking to bounce back from Saturday's season-opening loss to Atlanta.
But the Hurricanes might be ready to whirl into a frenzy.
After reaching the Eastern Conference finals last season, Carolina has lost its first two games of the season and has been outscored 9-2 in back-to-back games, allowing six combined power-play goals to Philadelphia and Boston.
Hurricanes head coach Paul Maurice was upset enough in his team's performance that despite playing road games Friday and Saturday, he summoned the players to RBC Center on Sunday for a morning practice. Throw in that tonight is Carolina's home opener, and Lightning coach Rick Tocchet knows the task for his team to avoid an 0-2 start is going to be a challenge.
"We are really wary [of the situation],'' Tocchet said. "They had back-to-back games and Paul Maurice had them practicing the next day, so we know they are not happy right now. As [associate coach] Rick Wilson said, we might be walking into a hornet's nest.''
The Hurricanes will also be without one of their top players after speedy right wing Erik Cole suffered a fracture in his right leg Saturday and is expected to be out up to six weeks.
With all the factors stacking up against Tampa Bay, Tocchet said his team better be ready to handle the pressure Carolina is going to bring right from the opening faceoff.
"Carolina is going to come after us hard and physical,'' he said. "The coaches and the players have to know that [the Hurricanes] are going to be ready, there won't be any surprises after the game like, 'Man, I didn't know they were going to come so hard.' We know they are going to come hard, we know it.
"It's been a tough couple of days of practice. We read the newspapers, so we know that even though it's our second game they are going to come at us hard so we better be ready. We have to come in with our game plan and that's play physical hockey and push back. When teams play aggressive you have to push back and that's our motto [today].''
With Lightning defenseman Kurtis Foster out of the lineup tonight with an undisclosed lower-body injury, David Hale is expected to be inserted into the lineup after he practiced alongside Andrej Meszaros on Monday, although Tocchet said he would likely wait to see who Carolina might dress before making a final decision between Lukas Krajicek and Hale.
Foster will also be missed on the top power-play unit, where he was running the left point, a spot that was filled by rookie Victor Hedman during special teams drills Monday afternoon.
But the Hurricanes might be ready to whirl into a frenzy.
After reaching the Eastern Conference finals last season, Carolina has lost its first two games of the season and has been outscored 9-2 in back-to-back games, allowing six combined power-play goals to Philadelphia and Boston.
Hurricanes head coach Paul Maurice was upset enough in his team's performance that despite playing road games Friday and Saturday, he summoned the players to RBC Center on Sunday for a morning practice. Throw in that tonight is Carolina's home opener, and Lightning coach Rick Tocchet knows the task for his team to avoid an 0-2 start is going to be a challenge.
"We are really wary [of the situation],'' Tocchet said. "They had back-to-back games and Paul Maurice had them practicing the next day, so we know they are not happy right now. As [associate coach] Rick Wilson said, we might be walking into a hornet's nest.''
The Hurricanes will also be without one of their top players after speedy right wing Erik Cole suffered a fracture in his right leg Saturday and is expected to be out up to six weeks.
With all the factors stacking up against Tampa Bay, Tocchet said his team better be ready to handle the pressure Carolina is going to bring right from the opening faceoff.
"Carolina is going to come after us hard and physical,'' he said. "The coaches and the players have to know that [the Hurricanes] are going to be ready, there won't be any surprises after the game like, 'Man, I didn't know they were going to come so hard.' We know they are going to come hard, we know it.
"It's been a tough couple of days of practice. We read the newspapers, so we know that even though it's our second game they are going to come at us hard so we better be ready. We have to come in with our game plan and that's play physical hockey and push back. When teams play aggressive you have to push back and that's our motto [today].''
With Lightning defenseman Kurtis Foster out of the lineup tonight with an undisclosed lower-body injury, David Hale is expected to be inserted into the lineup after he practiced alongside Andrej Meszaros on Monday, although Tocchet said he would likely wait to see who Carolina might dress before making a final decision between Lukas Krajicek and Hale.
Foster will also be missed on the top power-play unit, where he was running the left point, a spot that was filled by rookie Victor Hedman during special teams drills Monday afternoon.
