Hurricanes rediscover comforts of home

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-09 09:34

RALEIGH, North Carolina: Ray Whitney scored two goals to help the Carolina Hurricanes end a five-game home losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Southeast Division-leading Washington Capitals on Sunday.

Eric Staal also scored, breaking a 1-1 tie with a third period goal to help Paul Maurice net his first victory in his second stint as Hurricanes coach.

"It was a gritty win," Staal told reporters. "I thought we competed extremely hard."

The goal was Staal's 299th career point.

"I'm glad he (Staal) got rewarded in a game where he played both ends of the rink so well," Maurice, who replaced Peter Laviolette on Wednesday and was 0-2 before the win, said.

Netminder Michael Leighton also played a big role, making 38 saves as second-placed Carolina pulled within four points of Washington in the standings.

"He played great," Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We knew it would be very difficult to beat him. We thought if we could get one by him and push it in to overtime, we'd be fine."

Leighton, filing in for the injured Cam Ward, made a key save when he stopped a penalty shot from Alexander Ovechkin with 1.2 seconds remaining in the second period. The Hurricanes were leading 1-0 at the time.

Nicklas Backstrom scored Washington's goal on a third-period powerplay.

Blackhawks 7, Coyotes 1

At Chicago, Ben Eager scored twice, and Andrew Ladd had a goal and three assists for a career-high four points in the Chicago Blackhawks' 7-1 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday.

Jonathan Toews and Dave Bolland each had a goal and an assist, and Patrick Sharp and Dustin Byfuglien also connected. The Blackhawks scored their season-high seven goals during a span of 11 consecutive shots against Ilya Bryzgalov.

Chicago's Cristobal Huet, making his fifth straight start with Nikolai Khabibulin sidelined by a groin injury, stopped 20 shots, allowing only Enver Lisin's goal on a breakaway in the final minute of the second period. Coming off a 5-4 shootout loss in Detroit on Saturday night, Chicago improved to 8-1-4 at home.

Agencies