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Staal nets hat trick as Hurricanes drill Oilers

Jan 19, 2008 - 5:20 AM RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Eric Staal and the Carolina Hurricanes had a third period to remember.

The All-Star recorded his fourth career hat trick and Sergei Samsonov and Chad LaRose scored 29 seconds apart as the Hurricanes benefited from a five-goal uprising in the third period to rout the Edmonton Oilers, 7-2, on Friday.

The Hurricanes snapped a season-high four-game losing streak, while the Oilers suffered their third consecutive loss.

"I think we needed something to make us feel better," Staal said. "It hasn't been good the last little while. We needed a win at home to rejuvenate everyone, get that fire in everyone's belly, and we did that tonight. Everyone had a bit of a jump in their step and a smile on, and that's what you need to play this game with."

With Carolina nursing a 2-1 lead after two sessions, Staal scored twice in a 5 1/2-minute span to give the Hurricanes a three-goal bulge.

After Edmonton turned over the puck in its own zone, Staal gained possession, skated around the net and beat goaltender Mathieu Garon at 4:13 to give the Hurricanes a 3-1 advantage.

Staal converted a penalty shot at 9:48 to increase Carolina's lead to 4-1 and capped the scoring with 20 seconds remaining by sending a wrist shot past Dwayne Roloson - who relieved Garon - for his 26th goal of the season.

"Everyone just had one of those attitudes where we weren't going to be stopped today, and we needed it," Staal said. "It was nice to get a bunch in the third just to close it out."

Captain Rod Brind'Amour added a goal and two assists, increasing his points total to seven in the last four games.

Brind'Amour opened the scoring just over six minutes into the first period, blasting a one-timer from outside the left faceoff circle past a screened Garon for his 17th goal of the season.

After Patrick Thoresen leveled the contest just over three minutes into the second period, defenseman Tim Gleason scored his first goal of the campaign to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead with 4:17 remaining in the session.

"That was a big one," said Brind'Amour, who fed the puck to Gleason. "They had just come back, and coming into the third with the lead is always good."

Cam Ward turned aside 16 shots for Carolina.

"We made a lot of great strides tonight," Ward said. "I think it's important that we build on this. We have a good game like this, we've got to respond with another good one. This is the way we're capable of playing. We've got to do our talking with the way we play on the ice."

Garon, who made 26 saves, exited the game after LaRose gave Carolina a 6-1 lead with 7:15 remaining in the third period. He was replaced by Roloson, who made two stops.

As one would expect, Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish was not thrilled with his team's effort.

"It was a disappointing loss last night (in Washington) in the shootout," MacTavish said. "Tonight, we survive it until four minutes to go in the second period. We get a little soft in our coverage on their second goal. Then the bottom fell in on the third (period) after the couple of giveaways.

"I want it hanging over us for a little while until we can come up with a better effort consistently. I'm in no mood to brush this under the carpet. We've got to look this effort square in the eyes and do something about it in the next game."

Both teams entered the game having played - and lost - on Thursday.

"Back-to-back games are tough, but they were in the same position," Oilers captain Ethan Moreau said. "They responded a lot better to the back-to-back games."