Ray Whitney, who helped Carolina with a Stanley Cup, laughed when asked which of his former teammates might put the first hit on him Saturday.

"I'm not sure," he said. "I've verbally given it to a lot of guys over there, so there might be a lineup for that one. It'll be fun."

Whitney would like nothing better than to step up his offensive production when the Coyotes (2-2-1) host the Hurricanes (3-3) to wrap up a brief homestand before embarking on a three-game road trip.

The game will end a 15,000-plus mile odyssey for the Hurricanes, who have yet to play at home. They opened the season with two games in Europe, returned to Raleigh, N.C., for two days, then began this five-game road swing.

"Fond memories of that franchise (which began as the Hartford Whalers), that's where I started my playing career, so there's lots of good friends over there and fond memories of that," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said.

"They've got a young team that's been on a long road trip, and they've had some games they've been very good in, so we're going to have to play very well."

Making it count

When he was called up from the minors, foremost in center Andrew Ebbett's mind was to take advantage of the opportunity. He did just that Thursday against the Kings, scoring a short-handed goal that gave the Coyotes a 3-0 lead.

"It was nice to see that opportunity from coach to throw me in there," Ebbett said. "I've played in this league for a couple of years now; I penalty-killed last year in Minnesota, I kind of have the experience there."

Tippett described Ebbett's contribution as "really good," adding he is an intelligent player who can play in various situations.

Ebbett will be on the roster for at least the next few games until Martin Hanzal (upper body injury) returns. He intends to make the most of it.

"You get called up, it's an opportunity, you get those two or three games just to showcase yourself," he said. "If I can play well and do the little things right, then hopefully make it tough on them to try and send me down again."

Ice chip

Defenseman Ed Jovanovski will continue wearing the 'C' on his sweater for the next two games while Shane Doan continues his three-game suspension.