RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have some star power, and that's one of many reasons the franchise brass is optimistic about the team's future.
But they aren't the New York Rangers, which was painfully obvious Thursday night.
The Rangers, the top team in the Eastern Conference, played big-time big-boy hockey in beating the Hurricanes 3-2 at the RBC Center. New York had a chip on its shoulder early in the contest, which only grew into the third period.
During that frame, the rugged visitors scored three straight goals after Carolina's stars Jeff Skinner (goal), Eric Staal (assist) and Justin Faulk (assist) combined to give it a 1-0 lead. But that's when things slowly turned in New York's favor, and the team of today started giving a potential team of the future a lesson or two.
"There's a reason they're at the top," Carolina coach Kirk Muller said. "They just go and grind it out and roll along. There's no surprises in their team. They are a big, strong team."
Muller was pleased with how his team pushed back and had a chance to send the game into overtime inside the final seconds, but he also understands where his club is in relation to the Rangers.
The Hurricanes have a nice base for their future. Cam Ward is one of the top goaltenders in the NHL and is just 28 years old. Eric Staal, 27, has been an All-Star nearly every year of his career, and has finally found his terrific form. In fact, Staal's assist on the Skinner goal was the ninth consecutive game he's set up a teammate for a score, a franchise-record since the Hartford Whalers moved to Carolina in 1997.
Both men have also experienced the sport's greatest high, winning the Stanley Cup here on Tobacco Road in 2006. So, they know what it takes to win big.
Skinner is just 19 and was an All-Star as a rookie last year, and may well have been again this season if not for a concussion in early December that sidelined him for 38 days. His ceiling is seemingly unlimited.
And Faulk is a 19-year-old rookie defenseman who was an All-Star in January. He continues to impress despite his size (6-feet, 205 pounds) and age. But he's a grinder, is fundamentally sound and doesn't back down from anyone.
Carolina is also quite content with its role players and the direction of the team under first-year coach Kirk Muller, who replaced Paul Maurice in late November. But the 'Canes are quite a ways away from where the Rangers currently reside.
New York isn't older or wiser across the board, but they do have more grizzled veterans -- guys like Ruslan Fedotenko, Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards, who provide needed gravitas to the team.
And that's a reason this game, which was more about being a bridge to next season than a part of some miracle push to make the playoffs, carries long-lasting value. But it was still a loss, and for a team that dropped just one game in regulation in February, the locker room was quiet.
Nevertheless, this matchup was a measuring stick of sorts, though 'Canes forward Brandon Sutter wasn't so agreeable.
"It doesn't matter who we're playing, every game is tight," he said. "So, only in the last few weeks every game we've lost has been by one goal. It's been tight and we have to keep doing what we're doing."
A moment later, Sutter added, "That's the best defensive team in the league and we had our chances. We have to take that from it."
And the 'Canes will. They have to if that nucleus of talent, role players and a new, positive direction is to become something more tangible.
