SURGING HURRICANES GUT OUT ROAD VICTORY OVER DEVILS

The Carolina Hurricanes spotted the host New Jersey Devils a 1-0 lead before mounting a furious third period comeback to steal the victory 2-1 at the Prudential Center on Saturday night.  In a game characterized by solid goaltending on both ends of the ice it was Carolina’s Cam Ward getting the best of New Jersey Devils legend Martin Brodeur as the ‘canes won their sixth straight and seventh in 10 games.  Carolina is now in 5^th place in the NHL’s Eastern Conference with their sights firmly set on the fourth place Philadelphia Flyers just one point ahead. 

Both teams had good scoring chances in the opening period as they combined for 25 shots on net, but it was New Jersey who broke through for the first goal as Patrik Elias scored late in the period assisted by Brian Gionta and Bryce Salvador to take a 1-0 lead into the locker room.  The goaltenders were the stars in a scoreless second period, as Carolina outshot New Jersey 18-13 but couldn’t find the back of the net.  It was more of the same in the early part of the third period until Sergei Samsonov lit the lamp at the 13:05 mark assisted by Joe Corvo and Rod Brind'Amour.  The game winning goal would come several minutes later as Tuomo Ruutu scored on the power play with just under four minutes left assisted by Corvo and Eric Staal.  The ‘canes would then hold on for a hard fought 2-1 decision.

New Jersey’s Broduer was exceptional in net despite emerging on the wrong end of the outcome:  he stopped 46 of 48 Carolina shots and held them scoreless during an 18 shot 2^nd period onslaught.  Carolina’s Ward stopped 31 of 32 New Jersey shots in the victory, aided by a third period that saw his team hold a whopping 18-6 shots on goal advantage.  After the game, the Carolina goalie addressed suggestions that his team is ‘peaking at the right time’ as the playoffs draw near:

"It's been huge, but it's important that we bear down for the last five games. We haven't done anything yet, but we've certainly set ourselves up for some success. We haven't clinched yet, so we have to continue to fight."

New Jersey has been unable to take advantage of a late season swoon by top ranked Boston, mirroring the Bruins 5-4-1 record in their last ten games.  They’ve been passed up by Washington for second place in the Eastern Conference and currently sit in third place one point behind the Caps and six points behind the Bruins.  Devils coach Brent Sutter indicated that it was time for his team to turn on the postseason intensity:

"It's got to be a learning experience. It's playoff hockey now. You're going to get into these one-goal games and you've got to do the detail work and the little things well."

Carolina will return to the RBC Center Arena in Raleigh, NC for their next three games as they host the New York Rangers on Thursday, the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, and the New York Islanders on Tuesday, April 7^th.  New Jersey will hit the road to play at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers on Monday before heading to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins on Wednesday.  They’ll return home to host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night.