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 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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