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Ward, Hurricanes stymie Sabres

Feb 27, 2009 - 3:54 AM RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Cam Ward stopped 36 shots in regulation and denied all three attempts in the shootout as the Carolina Hurricanes recorded a 2-1 triumph over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.

Jussi Jokinen scored in the second round of the bonus format and defenseman Anton Babchuk tallied in regulation for Carolina, which improved to 4-1-0 in its last five games.

Patrick Kaleta scored in regulation and Patrick Lalime turned aside 31 shots for Buffalo, which has dropped consecutive games since netminder Ryan Miller suffered a high-ankle sprain on Saturday against the New York Rangers.

Ward denied Ales Kotalik and Tim Connolly in the bonus format while Jason Pominville's attempt caromed off the crossbar.

"I'd like to think that's all I gave him (Pominville)," Ward said. "He made a good shot. These are good players. I thought I was aggressive and I thought I forced him to shoot. He probably thought he had some room. It's a good sign to see it go off the bar and the bounces go our way."

"In the shootout, they hit the post and it goes in, we hit a crossbar and it goes out," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "That's how close it ended up being."

Carolina coach Paul Maurice admitted that he was not surprised with Ward's performance.

"He's that good," Maurice said. "That's our expectation of him. We're pleased and excited when a guy performs like he did tonight and clearly he had a good game. That's why we have very, very high expectations of him.

"Part of his development into an elite goaltender is being able to suffer through the aches and pains of playing a tremendous number of games and also the mental wear and tear that goes in with having a night where you miss a few pucks, even if it's not your fault and getting yanked and having to come back under extreme pressure and play your very best."

In the second round, Jokinen skated in on Lalime, slowed to a stop before wristing the puck just inside the left goalpost for the only tally in the shootout.

"I watched Ruuti (Tuomo Ruutu) and he (Lalime) was coming far out, so if I stop, it's tough on the goalie," Jokinen said. "They have to think, `What's he going to do?' I tried to freeze him out a little bit and I got a pretty good shot. It was a big two points for us."

"I don't know if that's really what he wanted to do," Lalime said. "My scouting was usually he just keeps coming full speed and he brings it back and shoots low blocker. He kind of fumbled it a little bit and got it back."

Kaleta opened the scoring with 7:17 remaining in the second period after collecting a loose puck on the doorstep and wristing it past a prone Ward for his fourth goal of the season.

Babchuk leveled the contest at 7:34 of the third after accepting a feed from Michael Ryan and blasting a shot from the right faceoff circle past Lalime for his seventh tally of the campaign.