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Whitney's natural hat trick lifts Hurricanes over Bruins

Feb 9, 2007 - 5:38 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- Ray Whitney accomplished a notable achievement, and he did it very quickly.

Whitney recorded a natural hat trick in a 1:40 span late in the second period to help lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins.

The Hurricanes, who dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Bruins on Saturday, won for just the second time in their last six games. Boston fell to 2-6-0 in its last eight contests.

"We've been there before, and we're not a very good team when we're on our heels like that," Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said of his club's early play. "We're just fortunate that (goaltender Cam Ward) showed up and played a great first period and that we dug in a little bit more in the second."

"(Only) 4 1/2 or five minutes cost us the hockey game," Boston coach Dave Lewis said. "We had a chance to take a 2-0 lead in the second period and we didn't, and we opened the door for them and they put us away in a short period of time. That's what good teams do, they seized opportunities. They showed us how to win."

Whitney scored his first goal with 4:24 remaining in the second, picking up a loose puck near the crease and flipping it over goaltender Tim Thomas to tie the game at 1-1.

The left wing gave Carolina a 2-1 lead 69 seconds later, when he cut into the slot, took a pass from Justin Williams and beat Thomas. He completed his second career three-goal game with a backhander 31 seconds afterward.

"They were not the prettiest goals," Whitney said. "One went off a defenseman's shin pad, and the wraparound kind of snuck in between (Thomas') legs. They weren't pretty, but they're the type of goals that, when our team is playing well, we get."

"I guess I am shell-shocked, but I'd also say mad," Thomas said. "If a guy tries to turn into a hero like that, I'd say at least put the body on him. I know we wanted to, but I'm just mad that one guy can beat us and won the game for them."

The hat trick was the fastest in franchise history, besting the old mark of 8:05 by Ron Francis of the Hartford Whalers against the Montreal Canadiens on October 19, 1985.

"It was fast," Whitney said. "Two shifts and three goals. Maybe in bantams I did that, but certainly not at this level. They weren't graceful goals and they weren't highlight goals, but they certainly got us going in the right direction."

Captain Rod Brind'Amour had a goal and two assists and Ward made 34 saves for Carolina, which improved to 3-0-1 against Boston this season.

Brandon Bochenski scored both goals and Thomas stopped 31 shots for the Bruins, who have lost six of eight.

Bochenski, who was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, has three goals in two games with his new club.

He gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 15:32 of the first period, when he took a pass from defenseman Paul Mara in the low slot and jammed the puck between Ward's pads. His second goal cut the deficit to 4-2 with 7:24 to go in the third, but Brind'Amour sealed the win with an empty-netter in the final minute.

Carolina's Erik Cole suffered a right leg injury midway through the second period and did not return.

"To be honest, I have not seen the trainer yet," Laviolette said. "He has a 'lower body' injury. He didn't return to the game because of the injury. I think there were some X-rays taken, but we never got the results back."