Ottawa fans have a whole new reason to holler "Uh-Oh Corvo!"
For the second time in two outings against his old team, defenseman Joe Corvo — who was criticized endlessly during his time in Canada's capital —got revenge by contributing to a Carolina win, this time a 2-1 come-from-behind victory. His wrister from the right circle with 2:40 left in regulation beat ex-Cane Martin Gerber and gave coach Peter Laviolette his 240th career victory, passing John Tortorella for the most all-time victories by an American-born coach. Last season, in Corvo's only other game against the Senators, Corvo had a hat trick and also was credited with the game winner.
The game was eerily similar to last night's crushing loss to division foe Washington, when the Canes blew a one-goal lead in the third period and lost with 10.8 seconds remaining. This time, the Senators got on the board first when Mike Fisher tapped in a rebound of a Daniel Alfredsson shot near the end of the second to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead.
But Carolina's power play clicked at an opportune time, as Dennis Seidenberg's shot from the point beat Gerber to tie the score with less than nine minutes remaining. Six minutes later, Corvo found a loose puck at the right circle, turned and fired the puck over Gerber's left shoulder. Corvo, who assisted on Seidenberg's earlier goal, registered a game-high seven shots.
Credit is also due to Michael Leighton, who stopped 22 shots and improved to 4-1 on the season. The Canes' defense was also solid, limiting the dynamic duo of Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza to five total shots and holding them pointless and the penalty kill sent Ottawa to an o-for-5 night.
On the injury front, Patrick Eaves did not play due to an injury (rumored to be a concussion). Recent call-up Michael Ryan played in his place and in his Carolina debut played 4:52.
The win makes Carolina 3-0 on the back end of back-to-back games this season and improves the Canes to 8-4-2, good for 18 points and first place in the Southeast. The Capitals are at 14 points with two games in hand.
The Hurricanes next play Sunday, hosting Atlanta at 3 p.m. It's the league's lone matinee and will not be televised by either team's broadcasters. You can hear the game on 99.9 FM.