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Hurricanes 4, Sabres 1
'Canes end skid with win
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Ron Francis and Sami Kapanen scored power play goals 1:31 apart as the Carolina Hurricanes snapped their season-worst five-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.
A pair of Gary Roberts goals midway through the third period sealed it for Carolina.
Michael Peca's goal with 1:18 left broke up Arturs Irbe's shutout.
There was little offence between the two teams in the first 30 minutes, but Carolina broke out of its 3-for-26 slump with the man-advantage in the latter stages of the second period to take control.
Roberts' second goal was also on the power play, giving Carolina three man-advantage goals in a game for the first time since a 4-2 victory at St. Louis on Dec. 7.
Buffalo, returning from a three-game West Coast trip, fell to 1-20-1 when trailing after two periods.
Francis scored his 13th of the season from a sharp angle with six seconds left on Erik Rasmusen's boarding penalty, slipping the puck under the stick and pads of Buffalo's Martin Biron.
A minute later, Rhett Warrener went off for hooking and the Hurricanes struck again, this time Francis whipping a pass from behind the net to a wide open Kapanen in the slot. His high backhander beat Biron for his team-leading 18th of the season.
The Francis goal came on Carolina's seventh shot in a close-checking game between two teams battling a group of six for the final three playoff spots in the Eastern Carolina.
The victory in front of 16,345 -- the second largest home crowd of the season -- inched Carolina one point in front of Buffalo, which fell to 1-4-1 in its last six games.
Carolina's five-game skid was its longest since losing the final five games of the 1997-98 season.
The Hurricanes had expected the return of defenceman Sean Hill, the team's top scorer on defence. But Hill missed his 14th straight game with a nagging groin injury.
Summary
----------------------------- Buffalo 0 0 1--1 Carolina 0 2 2--4 ----------------------------- FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Kovalenko, Car (Ob holding the stick), 13:39. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Carolina, Francis 13 (power play) (Kovalenko, Kapanen), 12:44. 2, Carolina, Kapanen 18 (power play) (Francis, Kovalenko), 14:15. Penalties: Grosek, Buf (tripping), 1:18; Mckee, Buf (holding), 6:00; Rasmussen, Buf (boarding), 10:50; R Warrener, Buf (hooking), 13:49; Irbe, Car served by Roberts (interference), 14:38; Pratt, Car (cross checking), 19:36. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Carolina, Roberts 10 (Halko, Kron), 7:53. 4, Carolina, Roberts 11 (power play) (Oneill, Kron), 11:13. 5, Buffalo, Peca 7 (D Ward, Rasmussen), 18:42. Penalties: Smehlik, Buf (cross checking), 9:38; T Westlund, Car (tripping), 14:16. Shots on goal: --------------------------------- Buffalo 5 9 8--22 Carolina 4 6 7--17 --------------------------------- Power-play Conversions: Buf - 0 of 4, Car - 3 of 5. Goalies: Buffalo, Biron (17 shots, 13 saves; record: 16-13-2). Carolina, Irbe (22, 21; record: 15-17-7). A:16,345. Referees: Marouelli, Watson. Linesmen: Champoux, Kovachik.
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