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Corvo haunts former team in Hurricanes' win

Mar 17, 2008 - 1:43 AM By Joe Johnson PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) - Joe Corvo hurt his former team with his first career hat trick Sunday as the Carolina Hurricanes posted a 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.

Sunday's game was the first matchup between the teams since a key trade on February 12 shook up both lineups. Corvo and Patrick Eaves - who were acquired by Carolina - got the better of their former team.

Eaves and Scott Walker also scored for the Hurricanes, who bounced back from Friday's 7-1 drubbing in Buffalo and improved to 11-1-1 in their last 13 home contests.

Carolina (39-30-5) maintained its five-point lead over Washington (35-30-8) and Florida (35-31-8) in the Southeast Division.

"If I got to write a storybook ending, this would be it," Corvo said.

All-Star Eric Staal, Carolina's leading scorer, picked up three assists and has 15 points in his last seven games.

"It was an unbelievable 60 minutes," Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said. "The work ethic was outstanding. We had to be that way. They have a very talented team, so you have to work hard. Everybody paid the price tonight. They helped each other. We were on a mission to get to their net."

Goaltender Cam Ward blanked the Senators after giving up a power-play goal to Dany Heatley 3:16 into the contest.

Ward was rarely tested, finishing with 16 saves, as the Senators registered a season-low 17 shots.

Corvo has registered five goals and nine assists since the trade, while Eaves scored his first goal with Carolina on Sunday.

"Anytime you get traded, your world kind of gets turned upside down," Eaves said. "It's hard for you not to come out and want to play your best."

Cory Stillman, who was sent to Ottawa as part of the deal, picked up an assist against the Hurricanes and has 14 points in 17 games for the Senators.

Defenseman Mike Commodore - the other player involved in last month's trade - has yet to record a point for Ottawa and has a minus-eight rating.

Ottawa coach Bryan Murray said his team came out flat despite scoring first.

"I don't know why we weren't ready and (were) as flat as we were," Murray said. "It certainly had a lot to do with Carolina. It had a lot to do with the way we didn't move the puck. We've been better with that, but tonight we were slow moving the puck."

The Senators also picked up a season-high 13 penalties, giving Carolina 10 power plays. The Hurricanes scored on three of them.

"It's a tough one," Commodore said. "They played well. We couldn't get anything going because of the penalties. It kind of killed us. I don't know how many power plays they had, but you can't give any team that kind of power play and expect to stay in the game.

"That was really the story of the game. And they outworked us, which probably led to the penalties. It's all intertwined."

Ottawa scored only once on its five power-play opportunities.

"Our special teams were very good," Staal said. "We did everything well. It was a great win."

Corvo scored his first goal at 10:24 with a 4-on-3 power play when he blasted a low slap shot past Martin Gerber from the top of the slot.

Walker extended Carolina's lead to 3-1 at 5:54 of the second period, flicking a quick wrist shot from the near rim of the left circle past Gerber.

Corvo gave the Hurricanes an insurance goal six minutes into the third period with another slap shot from the right point, then completed the hat trick with 2:10 remaining.

"That was great to see," Staal said of Corvo's hat trick. "I don't think that happens very often."