Hurricanes 2 - 1 Senators
Final
  for this game

Ward lifts Canes over Sens

Apr 4, 2012 - 3:56 AM Ottawa, ON (Sports Network) - Cam Ward came up with 38 saves, backstopping the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place on Tuesday.

Brandon Sutter and Tuomo Ruutu scored for the Hurricanes, who had dropped four of their previous five coming in.

"I felt like I was seeing the puck really well, I felt comfortable in there," Ward said. "For the most part I was really happy with the way I controlled my rebounds and guys were there for me most of the night."

Jason Spezza scored the lone goal for the Senators, who had a four-game winning streak snapped, but will be heading to the playoffs after a win over the New York Islanders on Sunday.

Craig Anderson gave up both tallies on 31 shots in defeat.

After a scoreless first period, the Hurricanes opened the scoring just 1:33 into the second stanza.

Sutter intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and headed the other way on the left wing. He moved the left circle and let a wrist shot go that Anderson got a piece of, but it just squeezed through his legs to give the Hurricanes the lead.

Carolina made it 2-0 on the power play with 2:06 showing on the second period clock when Jussi Jokinen threw a shot on net from the right point that was deflected past Anderson by Ruutu.

Ottawa ended Ward's shutout bid with just 13.5 seconds remaining when Alfredsson ripped a shot on goal from the high slot that was blocked in front, but Colin Greening swept the puck over to Spezza from his knees, and the talented forward fired it into the net.

"That was playoff hockey right there," Anderson said. "We ran into a hot goalie, give Ward credit. We're going to face that in the playoffs, there's going to be nights where the goalie plays outstanding. We have to make sure that we give ourselves a chance to win."

Game Notes

Senators goalie Ben Bishop missed his fourth consecutive game with a lower- body injury...Carolina leads the all-time series between the teams, 43-31-10...The Hurricanes improved to 12-3-4 against Northeast Division opponents this season...Alfredsson returned to action after missing Sunday's game with flu-like symptoms, while Spezza was back in the lineup after not playing on Sunday to attend the birth of his child...Carolina went 1-for-3 with the man advantage, while Ottawa failed on five power-play chances.






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