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Hurricanes escape Atlanta with shootout win

Dec 17, 2010 - 3:09 AM Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Sergei Samsonov scored in the last round of the shootout to help the Carolina Hurricanes take a 3-2 win over Southeast Division rival Atlanta at Philips Arena.

Samsonov was the final shooter and he was able to slip a forehand shot between the pads of Chris Mason for the win.

Brandon Sutter and Eric Staal each lit the lamp in regulation for the Hurricanes, who have won three straight. Cam Ward stopped 45 shots in the win.

It was the second come-from-behind win for Carolina in as many days as the team rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to Florida on Wednesday to take a 4-3 victory.

"It was a great effort from everyone," said Staal. "Obviously you never want to get behind, especially in this league. Unfortunately we did the last two games. But we found a way to battle back and stay competitive and stay with our game plan and get a win."

Evander Kane and Anthony Stewart each notched a goal and an assist for the Thrashers, who have dropped their past two games, both in shootouts. Mason made 27 stops.

"It's definitely disappointing, I mean you're always happy to get a point, but when you have a lead going into the third period you don't want to come away with just one point," said Mason. "You have to give those guys credit, they came out hard in the third and outworked us."

A scoreless first period saw Ward stop 18 shots and Mason turn aside 10.

The Thrashers had a goal called off with 11:25 left in the second when it was ruled that an Atlanta player had made incidental contact with Ward.

Just 10 seconds after that, though, Atlanta got one that counted as Stewart sent a pass from the right boards that hit off the skate of a Hurricane and went to Kane, who wristed it home for a 1-0 lead.

The Thrashers made it a 2-0 game with 1:04 to play in the second. After a failed 3-on-1 break, Kane got the puck to the front of the net where Stewart was eventually able to jam it home for his ninth goal of the season.

Carolina, though, made it a one-goal game just 26 seconds into the third period as Tuomo Ruutu threw a shot on net that was blocked and Sutter whacked it out of mid-air and past Mason.

At the six-minute mark, the Hurricanes tied the game when Staal's turnaround slap shot from the left slot sailed into the right corner of the net for his 13th goal of the season.

Game Notes

Atlanta hosts New Jersey on Saturday...The Hurricanes return home to face Anaheim on Saturday...This was the first meeting between these two teams this season. They next face each other in Atlanta on January 9...Atlanta was 1- for-4 on the power play while Carolina was 0-for-2.