Jussi Jokinen scored with 3:17 remaining in the
third period to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 win over the slumping
Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena.
Carolina captain Eric Staal registered a goal and an assist to extend his
point streak to 11 games. The talented centerman has 10 goals and seven
assists during the run.
Aaron Ward and Tom Kostopoulos also tallied for the Hurricanes, who snapped a
two-game losing streak and won for the fifth time in their last seven games.
Backup Manny Legace made 28 saves in place of injured Hurricanes netminder Cam
Ward, who missed the game with an upper-body injury and has since returned to
Raleigh for further evaluation.
Drew Stafford scored twice in a two-minute span in the third period, while
Andrej Sekera had a goal and two helpers for the Sabres, who have lost three
straight games and seven of nine overall. Ryan Miller allowed four goals on 27
shots in defeat.
Stafford tied the game 58 seconds into the final frame, just 24 seconds after
Staal had given Carolina a 2-1 lead. He then put the Sabres on top at 2:58
when his drive from the point floated over and fell in behind a bewildered
Legace.
Sergei Samsonov dished through the crease to Kostopoulos for an easy tap-in,
tying the back-and-forth contest at 8:23, and Jokinen made it 4-3 when he
picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, dashed down the left wing and
fired a slap shot past Miller's glove.
Aaron Ward's first tally in nearly over a year staked the visitors to a 1-0
lead.
Rookie left winger Zach Boychuk swooped behind the enemy cage and fed
the puck to the veteran defenseman, who drifted down from his point position
and fired a low wrister from the middle of the right circle that beat Miller
with 6:53 remaining in the opening frame.
He hadn't scored since March 12, 2009.
Buffalo drew even when Sekera's point shot beat Legace with 1:25 left in the
first.
Game Notes
Thomas Vanek had two assists for Buffalo...Carolina right winger Chad LaRose
was placed on injured reserve Friday due to an upper-body ailment. He
previously missed 17 games (Dec. 11-Jan. 16) with a lower-body injury...Both
clubs are in action Saturday. The Hurricanes wrap up a four-game road trip
against the Islanders, while Buffalo travels to Columbus.
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