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Gaborik scores twice as Wild hang on vs. Hurricanes

Feb 11, 2007 - 6:19 AM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Multi-goal games are becoming commonplace for Marian Gaborik.

Gaborik recorded his fifth two-goal performance of the season and added an assist as the Minnesota Wild got out to a big lead early and held on for a 5-4 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.

After missing 34 games with a groin injury, Gaborik returned to the lineup on January 6 and was held without a point in his first two games. But the Slovakian star has been a force ever since, scoring twice in each of his next two contests and netting 10 goals in a span of 11 games.

Gaborik had another stellar performance in this one, tallying twice on the power play in a span of 1:59 midway through the first period to give the Wild a 4-1 lead. His first goal came at 10:05, when he took a pass from Mark Parrish and fired the puck past goaltender Cam Ward.

"They scored three goals on seven shots," Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said. "We came out and then bang, bang, bang, it was 3-1."

Ward immediately was replaced by John Grahame, having allowed three goals on just eight shots.

Shortly thereafter, Gaborik redirected defenseman Petteri Nummelin's shot from the right point past Grahame with 7:56 remaining in the period for his 16th of the season.

"There were a lot of goals in the first period," Gaborik said. "A good power play from our team. We were moving the puck very well and got a couple of goals."

Pavol Demitra had a goal and two assists and Parrish and Pierre-Marc Bouchard also scored for the Wild, who improved to 7-3-1 in their last 11 games. Parrish's tally, just his second in 13 contests, came on Minnesota's first shot of the night.

"It's never a good way to start when they score on the first shot," Ward said. "The second one hopped out of my glove, I should have had it. The third goal, our guy spins his wheels, they wind up 2-on-1, not much I can say."

Demitra gave the Wild a 5-3 lead at 2:51 of the third period, converting a pass from Gaborik.

"I saw him coming hard and he made a great shot," Gaborik said. "It was a big goal for us. ... Carolina woke up and they were going after us. We held up pretty good in the third period."

Minnesota improved to 11-2-2 in its last 15 home games and 20-5-3 at the Xcel Energy Center this season. However, coach Jacques Lemaire was not pleased with his team's effort.

"If I look at the outcome, it's great," he said. "But overall, we are going to have to play better."

Eric Staal scored one goal and set up two others for Carolina, which has lost five of seven.

"We wanted two points to end this road trip on the right foot," Staal said. "We got down too many early and didn't have enough to get back."

The Hurricanes went 2-1-0 on the trip but play four of their next five at home.

Ray Whitney, who set a franchise record by registering a natural hat trick in a 1:40 span against Boston on Thursday, began Carolina's comeback attempt with six minutes to go in the first, jamming captain Rod Brind'Amour's pass past netminder Niklas Backstrom.

Staal converted a feed by Whitney with 62 seconds remaining in the middle session to draw Carolina within 4-3 and, just 24 seconds after Demitra's tally, set up Andrew Ladd's fifth of the season to again make it a one-goal game.

Backstrom, who made a season-high 41 saves in a 4-2 win over Florida on Thursday, stopped 22 shots in this one to improve to 6-0-2 at home this season.