Brandon Sutter scored a goal and an assist, but the Hurricanes dropped a 4-3 shootout decision to the Islanders Tuesday. The goal was Sutter's ninth of the season and third in his last five games. Anthony Stewart and Chad LaRose also lit the lamp for Carolina in a losing effort.

Carolina center Brandon Sutter (lower body) did not practice Tuesday, but is expected to play tomorrow against Phoenix. Coach Kirk Muller says Sutter "needed some fixin' up" and that he should be fine for the Hurricanes' games with Phoenix and Ottawa heading into the Christmas break. Sutter has played all 34 games and is 6-6-12.

Carolina's Brandon Sutter collected a goal and an assist in the Hurricanes' 4-3 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night. The Hurricanes squandered a 2-0 first-period lead in this one. Sutter's goal at 3:18 of the third gave Carolina a brief 3-2 lead, but Montreal's Travis Moen evened the score again when picked up his 100th career point at 4:37 of the period. It was Sutter's fifth goal of the season. He assisted on Anthony Stewart's fourth goal of the season. Jiri Tlusty also scored for the Hurricanes, his third of the season.

Coach Paul Maurice considered Carolina's Friday loss to Washington as just "one of those games". The Hurricanes were not completely outplayed however they did not get any bounces to go their way. There was one key moment in the third period when a puck bounced over the stick of Brandon Sutter, who was set for a shorthanded breakaway. After that they Capitals opened the floodgates. On an power play for Carolina there was a quick whistle to end a scramble. Sometimes that is how it goes, which was bad news for the Hurricanes on Friday.

Brandon Sutter notched his third goal of the season as Carolina shutout Chicago 3-0 on Friday. Sutter has performed well in his limited ice time this season. Carolina took it to Chicago, handing them a thorough 3-0 defeat. Tim Brent opened the scoring with his second of the season. Jiri Tlusty's goal with just five minutes left in the game clinched the win. Tim Gleason, Jussi Jokinen, Bryan Allen and Chad LaRose all registered assists.

Brandon Sutter has been excellent in the faceoff circle for Carolina. After five games, he has taken 94 draws and won 61.7 percent of them. Sutter had his ups and downs last year in the category and it was something that he wanted to improve on in 2011-12. So far he is off to a great start. Sutter has also received plenty of pointers from Ron Francis and Rod Brind'Amour, which has helped his cause.

Brandon Sutter has agreed to a three-year/$6.2 million contract extension with Carolina. Sutter had 14 goals and 29 points in 82 games last season. That's a significant step backwards after he broke out with 40 points in 2009-10, but Sutter is just 22 years old and we think he'll bounce back in 2011-12. Keep an eye on him during training camp as there's a good chance that he'll end up on one of the Hurricanes' top two lines.

The Carolina Hurricanes were prepared to give Brandon Sutter a long-term contract, but the two sides will probably agree on a two- or three-year pact. "We've talked about a long, long-term deal, and the reason we talked about it was to show how important Brandon is to us," GM Jim Rutherford said. "We were willing to give him a long-term contract not out of necessity but respect. Their preference was to keep it shorter, and I totally understand. Brandon is a hard guy to project, so it may be better for both." We'll keep you posted.