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Ward, Staal propel Hurricanes past Blackhawks

Mar 13, 2008 - 4:05 AM By Rory Spears PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) - All-Star Eric Staal recorded a goal and two assists and Cam Ward stopped all 25 shots he faced as the Carolina Hurricanes cruised to a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.

Erik Cole and Matt Cullen also tallied for the Hurricanes (38-29-5), who extended their season-high winning streak to five games and maintained their seven-point lead over the Washington Capitals (33-30-8) in the Southeast Division. The Capitals posted a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.

"Anytime you can help contribute on offense, it's a good feeling," Staal said. "We got off to good start, we took advantage of our power plays and bounces."

Ward stopped 10 shots in the first period, six in the second and nine in the third to record his fourth shutout of the season and sixth of his career.

"This is my third season and it's the most I have ever played," Ward said. "It's also the best I have ever felt. I am just fortunate to have such a good team in front of me. I am having a lot of fun."

Carolina scored all three of its goals in the first period against 23-year-old goaltender Corey Crawford, who had played in just six games prior to Wednesday. Crawford got the start after stopping 44 shots in a 3-1 loss to Detroit on Tuesday.

"I felt pretty good, but the guys needed a big save," Crawford said. "If I would have gotten one of those early ones, maybe it would have made a difference."

Cole began the barrage by firing a wrist shot that deflected between Crawford's pads for the first of two straight power-play tallies at 8:57 of the first session.

Less than two minutes later, Cullen gave Carolina a 2-0 advantage when his wrist shot beat Crawford just inside the right post for his 13th tally of the campaign.

Staal recorded his 34th goal of the season just over two minutes later to cap the scoring.

"Our team have been working extremely hard," Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said. "We came out and went bang-bang on those first two power plays and that was the story for us."

Crawford stopped 29 shots for the Blackhawks, who fell to 0-7-0 in their last seven meetings with Carolina. Chicago has not defeated Carolina since a 2-1 win on April 3, 1999.

Chicago fell to 0-3-1 in its last four games.

"I am not going to get down that we lost tonight," Blackhawks coach Denis Savard said. "But we need to get out of this streak pretty quick."