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Ward helps Hurricanes down Rangers

Jan 30, 2008 - 4:20 AM RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Cam Ward made 34 saves and captain Rod Brind'Amour scored the game-winning goal as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Rangers, 3-1, on Tuesday night.

Sergei Samsonov and Trevor Letowski also tallied for the Hurricanes, who had lost five of their previous six home games.

Ward, a former Conn Smythe Trophy winner, made the difference in this one. The 23-year-old netminder refused to allow a goal after Brendan Shanahan scored just 62 seconds into the game on a power play.

"The first goal got redirected," Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said. "After that, he was real strong and in charge of the game and his net. That was exactly what we needed."

He turned aside 10 shots in each of the first two periods and 14 more in the third to secure Carolina's third win in its last four games.

Facing a 1-0 deficit after the opening session, the Hurricanes came out strong in the second period. Samsonov tied the contest at 6:07 with his fourth goal of the season and Brind'Amour notched the eventual game-winner at 8:24.

After Martin Straka's turnover, Brind'Amour led a 2-on-1 rush. With the defender playing the pass, the Carolina captain was given a clear shot at New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Brind'Amour deked to the backhand at the edge of the crease and flipped the puck into the goal to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 edge.

"Their defenseman made a strange play," Brind'Amour said. "He didn't really come at me. I figured he would come at me and make me do something. I was able to make a little move."

Rangers coach Tom Renney said his team had a problem getting the puck deep into the zone during long changes.

"They caught us a couple of times with some tired people out there, took away our momentum," Renney said. "We've got to make sure that we can get a puck deep, get a forecheck going, generate some offense so that we can swing it back in our direction."

Ward received a little help from defenseman Niclas Wallin late in the middle session to maintain the lead. After Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr's shot was deflected in front, Scott Gomez corralled the puck to the right of the goal with Ward out of position.

Gomez's off-angle attempt, however, was blocked by Wallin in the crease.

Letowski added an insurance goal for Carolina at 3:40 of the final session to provide the final margin.

Lundqvist stopped 24 shots for New York, which has now lost six consecutive contests away from Madison Square Garden and still have three more stops left on its current road trip.

"They played smart," Lundqvist said of the Carolina attack. "They came really fast every time we'd lose the puck. They're that kind of attack team."

The first period stood in contrast to the final two. In the first, the Rangers took the upper hand in a period marked by fights and penalties. The two teams combined for 66 minutes in the box in the first.

"It was hard to get a good flow in the first period," Lundqvist said. "There were a lot of interruptions and penalties."

Brind'Amour said that the penalties went against the Hurricanes game plan.

"We talked about being physical and being ready to play," Brind'Amour said. "We really didn't want to take those penalties early on. That cost us a little bit."

The first-period skirmishes date back to the last time the two teams met on December 26, at Madison Square Garden - a game in which the Rangers won, 4-2.

Laviolette said his team played hard in the first period.

"Nobody has a crystal ball," Laviolette said. "When asked about it before the game, I said, 'We'll be ready, whatever way it goes, and we'll be ready.' They showed up and played hard in that first period."