Rod Brind'Amour Drives Physical Practice as Flyers Schedule Wait Continues
The flyers schedule shaped the Carolina Hurricanes’ Wednesday morning, with Rod Brind'Amour running a game-like practice while his team waited for its second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs opponent. The work was physical and deliberately close to playoff speed as Carolina stayed in limbo between rounds.
Brind'Amour Pushes Battle Drills
Brind'Amour said he put the Hurricanes in game-like situations to mimic the speed and physicality of the playoffs. “It's a little bit of a guessing game on what's the best way to approach things,” he said. “You back off all the way and get you know really feeling really great, or do you worry about the edge coming off? So I guess you kind of try to play somewhere in the middle.”
Seth Jarvis said the session was built around contact. “It's nice to go out there and compete,” he said. “We had a lot of battle drills, so it was good to kind of get that aspect.”
Philadelphia Flyers Hold 3-2 Lead
Carolina is waiting on the winner of the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins series, and the Flyers entered Wednesday with a 3-2 edge. They were scheduled to try to close out Pittsburgh at home Wednesday night. If the Penguins won, the first-round series would go seven games and likely push back the start of the Hurricanes’ next round.
That timing left Carolina practicing without a set opponent, but not without urgency. Jarvis said, “We sit for a few days, maybe you lose that.”
Nikishin Returns In Yellow Jersey
Alexander Nikishin was back on the ice Wednesday morning in a yellow, no-contact jersey after suffering a concussion on Saturday after a hit in Game 4 against Ottawa. Brind'Amour said, “I think he's feeling good,” and added, “Whatever he's got to do to get tested, it's all going along in the right direction.”
Taylor Hall said, “Concussions are never a straight line to coming back,” adding, “There are good days and bad days, and as you progress and go harder and harder, you might feel differently.” Mike Reilly was ready to play if Nikishin could not, and Carolina recalled Charles Alexis LeGault from the Chicago Wolves earlier this week. The Hurricanes will not practice Thursday morning.
