• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Hurricanes rally past Panthers

Apr 2, 2007 - 2:10 AM SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- The defending Stanley Cup champions aren't dead yet.

Ray Whitney's power-play goal at 1:30 of overtime gave the Carolina Hurricanes a dramatic 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Florida Panthers.

The Hurricanes (39-32-8) trailed the Panthers, 3-1, with less than eight minutes to play, but a short-handed goal by Rod Brind'Amour at 12:33 and a goal from Chad LaRose at 16:35 forced the extra session.

"It turned out to be a good day for us. We were up to the challenge this time," Whitney said. "As the game went on, we were gaining more confidence and starting to make plays. We were generating more offense and creating chances, and it paid off in the end."

The Hurricanes, who could become the first team since 1995-96 New Jersey Devils to miss the playoffs the year after winning the Stanley Cup, trail the Montreal Canadiens (41-32-6) by two points for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

The turning point in the game came at the 1:06 mark of overtime, when Florida defenseman Bryan Allen was called for hooking Carolina's Eric Staal.

Florida netminder Ed Belfour, thinking Staal had taken a "dive" on the play, began skating around the game officials making a diving motion. Belfour was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, putting Carolina on the 5-on-3 advantage. Moments later, Whitney scored his 31st goal of the season to seal the win.

"It's just frustrating to see where the refs can control the outcome of a game like that," Belfour said. "Down the other end, two of our guys get blatantly tripped and (the game officials) don't call it. At the opposite end, the guy takes a dive and his hand goes up right away. It's very frustrating, heartbreaking."

Allen echoed his teammate's thoughts.

"I think (Staal) embellished as much as he could and he got the call," he said. "I think it's embarrassing how they play the game. They're not playing hockey the way it should be played. They don't battle hard. They're looking for the easy way out, taking dives and trying to get the cheesy call."

Florida's Olli Jokinen, who had two assists, credited the Hurricanes for playing hard down the stretch.

"Bottom line, they wanted it more. The last 10 minutes, they wanted it more," he said. "We started playing good hockey too late. It (stinks). It's a wasted year again. Who wants to finish the season 10th or 11th in the Eastern Conference year after year? We didn't learn from last year's mistakes."

Florida has not made the playoffs since the 1999-2000 season.

Defenseman David Tanabe scored his third goal of the season for the Hurricanes, who improved to 6-1-0 against the Panthers this season.

Jozef Stumpel scored his 22nd and 23rd goals of the year for the Panthers, who had their three-game win streak halted.