Friday, March 14, 2014
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Hurricanes rally to defeat Sabres

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[March 14, 2014]  RALEIGH, N.C. — Twice in the last two months, the Carolina Hurricanes blasted more than 50 shots on net — only to lose both games by allowing five goals on the other end.

It has been that kind of season for the Canes, who once again watched in disbelief as the shot total mounted Thursday night against Buffalo goalie Michal Neuvirth, only to see a fluke goal give the Sabres a third-period lead.

But a power-play lineup switch by coach Kirk Muller snapped Carolina's man-advantage drought as forwards Alexander Semin and Jiri Tlusty scored less than two minutes apart late in the third to spoil Neuvirth's stellar goaltending effort in a 4-2 victory.

"It's nice for it to pay off for us in the end," said center Jeff Skinner, who scored his 26th of the season and recorded a franchise-record 13 shots on net. "We threw a lot at him and we had a lot of great chances. It was great that Alex scored and Jiri followed it up with a huge one for us.

"We were in their end for a lot of the game and our forecheck was good, and when we needed him, Cam Ward was big for us and our D-men were moving the puck quickly."

Skinner's 13 shots broke Eric Staal's record of 12 taken on March 28, 2008, in a 7-1 home victory against Atlanta. Skinner has 50 shots in nine games since the Olympic break.


Neuvirth, acquired from the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline, stopped a career-best 51 shots. Buffalo's defense was under siege all game from the Hurricanes, who are still holding out hope for a late playoff surge. Left winger Nathan Gerbe added an empty-net goal with 0.4 seconds left to seal it for Carolina (29-28-9).

"Sometimes when you're creating a lot of opportunities and not scoring, you can get down and frustrated, but we continued to attack and we knew we could eventually break them," Staal said.

"Desperation," added Staal when asked what has brought out the best in the last two home wins for Carolina. "We need these games. We know where we're at. We're got to win games, and we've got to follow this up."

Meanwhile, Buffalo (19-39-8) dropped its fourth consecutive game, its fifth losing streak of four or more games this season.

Right winger Drew Stafford scored his 13th — and third in the last four games — to give the Sabres a 2-1 lead at 8:43 of the third period. Prior to Thursday, Buffalo scored just two goals over a three-game stretch, both by Stafford.

The lead was short-lived, as Semin scored near the end of Carolina's fifth power play of the night at 11:48, notching his 18th and extending his point streak to a season-best six games. It was just the Hurricanes' second man-advantage goal in 38 tries over a 10-game span.

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With 6:17 left, Tlusty banged the puck past Neuvirth for his 12th of the season and his third game-winner.

Before Thursday, Neuvirth was 3-0 in his career with a 1.53 goals against average in PNC Arena against the Hurricanes. He fell to 4-2-1 overall as the Capitals goalie.

Center Tyler Ennis scored his team-leading 17th goal and Buffalo's first penalty shot of the season in three attempts when he beat Cam Ward on the blocker side at 10:22 of the first period. The penalty shot came after Tlusty was slashed on the hands during a breakaway attempt, and it gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead.

Skinner, who had gone eight games without a goal, scored for the third time in four games three minutes after Ennis' goal. Making a nifty move to get past defenseman Christian Ehrhoff in the corner, Skinner beat Neuvirth from a sharp angle for his team-leading 26th of the season.

The Sabres were outshot 22-4 in the second but still managed a 1-1 tie thanks in large part to Neuvirth, who stopped 34 of 35 shots through two periods.

"The second period was certainly awful," said Buffalo coach Ted Nolan. "Look at the shot total and we were very lucky to escape with the score that it was."

NOTES: Carolina G Cam Ward, who made 21 saves Thursday, started consecutive games for the first time since late December. ... Hurricanes RW Radek Dvorak dressed for just the third time in the last 14. ... Buffalo C Tyler Ennis scored just the 18th penalty-shot goal across the NHL this season in 62 tries. ... The last home penalty shot against the Hurricanes occurred Nov. 29, 2011, when Ward stopped Florida RW Jack Skille. ... Ward stopped nine of 13 penalty shots in his career. ... Carolina LW Jeff Skinner has seven goals in 13 career games against the Sabres. ... Buffalo D Alexander Sulzer did not dress the last two games with a lower-body injury and left this one after just two shifts when his head crashed into the boards after being checked by LW Jiri Tlusty.

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