Ready or not, Chad LaRose is going back into the lineup because Patrick Eaves is the latest Carolina player to go under the knife.

Eaves will have surgery Friday or Saturday on his left shoulder, which kept him out of the lineup when he arrived from Ottawa and a few games since.

Eaves is having the same procedure that Niclas Wallin had in November. He was expected to miss 3-4 weeks but was back in two.

So LaRose, who skated on the second line Thursday with Trevor Letowski and Tuomo Ruutu, will play with only one contact practice under his belt.

"I feel good," LaRose said. "It's a back-to-back so we'll have to be cautious."

Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said LaRose will be in the lineup Friday and they'll worry about Saturday when it comes.

"We're not anywhere yet," Laviolette said. "We're fighting like crazy."

LaRose broke his leg on Feb. 5 in Nashville.

03/27/08 at 16:41
A big WELCOME BACK to the Chuck Norris of hockey!

03/27/08 at 17:11
it will be nice when most of the team is back on the ice. Which will only be when they win the championship.