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(SportsNetwork.com) - The Carolina Hurricanes hope to remain perfect at home in January on Friday night as they welcome the Vancouver Canucks to PNC Arena. The Hurricanes have opened the new calendar year with a 4-1-1 mark, winning four times at home around a pair of setbacks on the road. They were last in action on Tuesday, when they recorded a 3-2 shootout win over the Colorado Avalanche despite blowing an early lead. Carolina got a first-period tally from Jordan Staal, his first of the season, and Patrick Dwyer lit the lamp in the second frame, but the Avalanche responded with a pair of third-period goals. Anton Khudobin, who made 28 saves through overtime, was able to stop both Colorado shooters he faced in the tiebreaker, while Victor Rask and Elias Lindholm both scored for the home team. I was happy with the start. It would have been nice to get a few more (goals) in the first, but that wasnt the case, said Carolina coach Bill Peters, whose club had 20 shots in the opening period. Carolinas current surge has come with Staal back in the lineup. He appeared in his seventh game of the season on Tuesday after missing the start of the campaign with a broken leg suffered in the preseason. The Hurricanes could also have forward Andrej Nestrasil in the lineup tonight after recalling him on Wednesday from a conditioning stint in the American Hockey League. He appeared in three games with the Charlotte Checkers and has not played in the NHL since Dec. 8 due to an upper-body injury. The Canucks, meanwhile, aim for a second straight win as they snapped a three- game slide with last nights 4-0 victory over the hosting Philadelphia Flyers. Vancouver had scored only two goals over its skid, but matched that total in the first period alone on Thursday. Nick Bonino, Henrik Sedin, Radim Vrbata and Jannik Hansen lit the lamp for the Canucks, who were playing the second contest of a five-game road trip. Ryan Miller, who did not play in the previous two games due to the flu, made 30 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and 33rd of his career. Felt pretty good. Been able to get some sleep so my energy came back. Just trying to keep everything pretty simple, said Miller. When the puck came loose I was able to get a rebound from the shots. We competed really well on the penalty kill as well. Vancouver could get a boost at the blue line if defenseman Dan Hamhuis can return tonight from a groin injury that has held him out of action since Nov. 20. The Canucks got a pair of goals from Brad Richardson and 29 saves from Miller in a 4-1 home win over the Hurricanes on Oct. 28. It was their third straight win in this series and 10th in the last 13 meetings. Cam Ward took the loss for Carolina, charged with three goals on 24 shots. 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Byrnes says Hoffman "will be a key part of finishing the development of our younger pitchers. LAS VEGAS -- Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored 51 goals last season to capture his second consecutive and fourth career Maurice Richard Trophy, an award hell collect at Tuesday nights NHL Awards in Las Vegas. But it was a dinner meeting he had over the weekend that created the buzz at Mondays informal media event at the Wynn Country Club. Ovechkin and Barry Trotz finally had a chance to meet face to face for the first time since the former Nashville Predators coach was named Capitals coach on May 26. "It was a good meeting, I think hell be happy," said Ovechkin, who leads the NHL in goals (422), points (814), power-play goals (151) and game-winning goals (69) since entering the league in 2005. "We talked about the system, how he wants to coach." The Capitals star made it a point to avoid discussing the details of his conversation with Trotz, but did acknowledge that the coach said there would be some changes. "Hes going to explain to everybody, its not about just me, everybody will have to change," said Ovechkin, who became the 11th player in NHL history to record five 50-goal campaigns. "We just talked about how he wants to play with me and how he wants to play with the team. We talked about good things -- lots of good things, lots of bad things -- he sees what he can change with the team and what he can change with my game." Trotz, who has never coacheed a 40-goal scorer, instilled a defensive scheme in Nashville.dddddddddddd He was the only coach of the Predators since they joined the league as an expansion franchise for the 1998-99 season. The 51-year-old Trotz was fired at the end of last season, after compiling a career record of 557-479-60 in 15 seasons. His 1,196 regular-season games coached ranks him 14th on the all-time coaching list. "Hes a straightforward coach and thats the best thing you can expect from a new guy," said Ovechkin. "Hes going to bring some new stuff for me and my teammates. Its going to be a new season and its going to be a brand new day for me. We still have the same team, the same group of guys right now. The new coach is going to bring a new system and well see how it goes." When Trotz was named coach, the Capitals also promoted Brian MacLellan to general manager, making him the sixth GM in team history after he spent the past seven seasons as the teams assistant general manager. "The whole organization is making a big step; they fired (former GM) George (McPhee), fired (former coach) Adam (Oates) and the organization wants to make improvements," Ovechkin said. "Just glad they havent fired me yet. Im still here with a Capitals jersey. ... New coach, a new GM and well see whats going to happen with the team, the system and all kind of stuff. Its going to be an interesting year." ' ' '