Penguins 2 - 5 Hurricanes
Final
  for this game

Eric Staal helps Hurricanes beat Penguins

Mar 27, 2015 - 4:00 AM Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Eric Staal had one goal and two assists in the Carolina Hurricanes' 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.

Ryan Murphy, Jay McClement, Alexander Semin and Andrej Nestrasil also lit the lamp for the Hurricanes, who improved to 1-1-1 on their five-game homestand.

Cam Ward made 27 saves in his first start since March 14 due to the flu.

"There was a lot of offense both ways. I thought they had some real good looks, and so did we," said Hurricanes coach Bill Peters. "There were some plays being made out there both ways."

Brandon Sutter and Ian Cole scored for the Penguins, who sit third in the Metropolitan Division. Marc-Andre Fleury gave up all five goals on 28 shots.

Sutter gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead when he jammed the puck past Ward at 3:54 of the first period.

Staal tied things up just over a minute later. He picked up a loose puck near the left circle and fired a wrist shot past Fleury.

"I really liked our start. I thought we had a great start," said Penguins coach Mike Johnston. "They capitalized on a turnover (on) their first goal."

The Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead at the 8:27 mark of the opening stanza. Murphy took a centering feed from Brad Malone and snapped the puck past Fleury.

McClement made it 3-1 at 11:38 of the second when his shot from the top of the right circle got past Fleury. Semin then scored off a pass from Riley Nash at 14:56.

Nestrasil scored on the power play at 13:14 of the third. Cole answered at 15:55 to account for the final margin.

Game Notes

The Hurricanes ended a four-game losing streak ... The Penguins are 1-5-1 in their past seven games ... Pittsburgh was without defenseman Christian Ehrhoff due to an upper-body injury ... Malone had two assists.






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