Hurricanes Blank Sabres Behind Ward`s 36 Saves

Eric Staal had a goal and two assists for Carolina, who had conceded five goals in each of their last two games.

The Carolina Hurricanes recovered from a pair of heavy losses to shut out the Buffalo Sabres 3-0 on Sunday behind Cam Ward's 36-save effort.

Eric Staal had a goal and two assists for Carolina, who had conceded five goals in each of their last two games against Florida and Columbus.

"Any time you have embarrassing home losses, a 10-1 score in two games, you're going to remember that," Staal told reporters. "The bottom line is we had to respond."

Staal scored his 24th goal of the season on a powerplay midway the first period, then assisted on scores by Chad LaRose in the first and Sergei Samsonov in the third as Carolina ended a five-game losing streak in Buffalo.

"I think getting the first goal was important," Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice told reporters. "We had gone five periods of hockey without scoring a goal and it starts to wear on your mind and it changes the way you play."

The shutout was Ward's fourth of the season and moved the Hurricanes within three points of Florida and Buffalo in the race for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

"All you have to do it look at the standings and you can use that for motivation," Ward told reporters. "Every game is huge for us."

Buffalo pulled netminder Ryan Miller after he gave up two goals off 18 shots in the first period. Replacement Patrick Lalime stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced in the final two periods.

"We just started off lacklustre, with no passion, and we got buried in a game we should have been jacked up for," Sabres right wing Patrick Kaleta told reporters.

"They outworked us in every aspect of the game," Buffalo captain Craig Rivet added.

NHL RESULTS on Sunday (home team in
CAPS)
Philadelphia 5 NY RANGERS 2
NEW JERSEY   6 San Jose   5
Washington   4 FLORIDA    2
Colorado     6 DETROIT    5 (SO)
Carolina     3 BUFFALO    0
Atlanta      8 ANAHEIM    4
VANCOUVER    4 Montreal   2

STANDINGS from the NHL on Sunday:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
ATLANTIC DIVISION

             W  L  OTL GF  GA  PTS
 1. New Jersey   37 17 3   179 141 77
 2. Philadelphia 30 16 9   179 161 69
 3. NY Rangers   30 21 6   143 160 66
 4. Pittsburgh   27 25 5   171 175 59
 5. NY Islanders 16 33 6   134 187 38
 NORTHEAST DIVISION

             W  L  OTL GF  GA  PTS
 1. Boston       39 10 8   192 130 86
 2. Montreal     30 21 6   172 172 66
 3. Buffalo      29 22 6   168 159 64
 4. Toronto      21 25 10  171 206 52
 5. Ottawa       21 25 8   135 155 50
 SOUTHEAST DIVISION

             W  L  OTL GF  GA  PTS
 1. Washington   36 16 5   191 163 77
 2. Florida      28 20 8   160 155 64
 3. Carolina     28 24 5   146 166 61
 4. Tampa Bay    19 26 11  142 176 49
 5. Atlanta      20 32 5   165 198 45
 WESTERN CONFERENCE
 CENTRAL DIVISION

             W  L  OTL GF  GA  PTS
 1. Detroit      37 12 8   215 168 82
 2. Chicago      31 15 8   181 137 70
 3. Columbus     28 23 5   153 155 61
 4. Nashville    27 26 3   138 158 57
 5. St. Louis    23 25 7   158 171 53
 NORTHWEST DIVISION

             W  L  OTL GF  GA  PTS
 1. Calgary      33 18 5   178 165 71
 2. Vancouver    27 21 8   169 163 62
 3. Edmonton     28 23 4   156 170 60
 4. Minnesota    28 24 3   142 129 59
 5. Colorado     26 30 1   156 178 53
 PACIFIC DIVISION

             W  L  OTL GF  GA  PTS
 1. San Jose     37 8  9   188 135 83
 2. Dallas       27 21 7   166 172 61
 3. Anaheim      28 25 5   163 166 61
 4. Los Angeles  24 22 8   140 150 56
 5. Phoenix      25 27 5   145 175 55