• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Cole, Ladd lead Hurricanes past Capitals

Feb 9, 2008 - 5:02 AM By Rich Dubroff PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Erik Cole and Andrew Ladd made sure the Washington Capitals' stay in first place in the Southeast Division was a short one.

Cole and Ladd scored first-period goals and Cam Ward made 33 saves to lead the Carolina Hurricanes past the Capitals, 2-1, on Friday night.

Cory Stillman, Sergei Samsonov, defenseman Frantisek Kaberle and captain Rod Brind'Amour each recorded an assist for Carolina, which halted a two-game skid.

"You don't want to let two points slide by because you don't know how many you're going to need for the division, and to get into the playoffs," Cole said. "Wins are at a premium right now. They're at a premium."

Alexander Semin scored a third-period goal and Brent Johnson turned aside 21 shots for the Capitals, who had won two straight and three of four.

Washington, which had the worst record in the NHL when Bruce Boudreau replaced Glen Hanlon as coach on November 22, has improved dramatically and took over first place in the Southeast after Wednesday's win in Philadelphia. It also had won eight of its previous 11 games.

However, Carolina (27-26-4), which scored just one goal in its previous two contests, regained the top spot in the division, moving one point ahead of Washington (26-25-5).

The Hurricanes got on the board early in this one.

Cole, who received a pass from Stillman in the neutral zone, raced down the right wing before deking Johnson and placing a shot past the goaltender's left leg at 3:56 of the first period for a 1-0 lead.

"We're looking at every goal and every game as a must-have," Cole said.

It was Cole's 12th goal of the season and first in his last nine games.

With 5:13 remaining in the period, Samsonov fired a shot off a 3-on-2 rush that bounced off the right skate of Johnson. Racing in from the left side, Ladd slapped in the rebound to give the Hurricanes a 2-0 advantage.

It was Ladd's sixth goal of the campaign and also his first in nine contests.

"You get down 2-0, and it's tough to get three pucks in the net," Johnson said. "I thought the rest of the game, we were right on."

Even though Carolina led by two goals for the majority of the game, coach Peter Laviolette was not satisfied. "I'd like four or five (goals), but it's a win," he said. "That's the only thing that matters. We played hard. We're trying to do the right things. There was an awful lot going against us tonight."

Semin spoiled Ward's shutout bid when he beat the netminder with 9:44 left in the third period. But the 23-year-old Russian committed a costly penalty when he was called for slashing with 28 seconds left and Johnson off for an extra attacker.

"It was a great individual effort. Semin did a good job there (on the goal)," Boudreau said. "But he also took a selfish penalty at the end of the game. Does one offset the other?"

As the third period began, the crowd at the Verizon Center tried to rattle the Hurricanes with sustained cheering. It may not have worked, but Laviolette still was unimpressed with his team's effort in the session.

"I don't think we had the same jump in the third period," he said. "That dreaded two-goal lead. Sit back and watch a little bit and try to win the game, 2-0. "I'm a firm believer in winning the game 3-0, 4-0, 5-0. You have to play that way. You can't sit back and wait for something to happen."

Washington outshot Carolina, 34-23, but failed to convert when it had a two-man advantage for 70 seconds early in the second. The Capitals finished 0-for-7 on the power play.

Alex Ovechkin, the NHL's leading scorer with 46 goals and 73 points, was kept off the scoresheet for just the 11th time this season.

"Ovechkin was a lot of our focus," Ward said. "We made it difficult for him and took away his time and space. He had to earn every shot he got."

Ovechkin finished with four shots on goal.