Hurricanes 4, Stars 1

The Carolina Hurricanes scored two powerplay goals and used a 33 save performance by Anton Khudobin to defeat the red hot Dallas Stars, 4-1 on Thursday night at the PNC Arena.

John-Michael Liles had a goal and two assists, Justin Faulk had a goal and an assist, and Chris Terry had two assists to lead the home team.

The Canes had a bit of a slow start again, not as bad as some nights, but still, the Stars had the jump to start out.  But Khudobin was on top of his game and made 13 saves on 13 shots in the first period.  Carolina had eight shots in the scoreless opening frame.

Carolina got the scoring started on a fluky play early in the second period.  Liles fired the puck on net and it hit the back of Eric Staal's skate, went high in the air, then fell behind goalie Kari Lehtonen.

Justin Faulk then lit the lamp for a second straight game with a blistering shot from the point while on a powerplay.

The Hurricanes made it 3-0 when Liles picked a perfect spot on Lehtonen, also on a powerplay goal, and they had scored all three goals in under five minutes.

Tyler Seguin made it 3-1 though on a rush and the second period ended with the home team in the penalty box with a penalty to kill.  But the Canes held firm the rest of the way and Khudobin did not allow any other pucks past him.

Riley Nash made the score, 4-1 when he roofed a Brett Bellemore rebound past Tim Thomas, who had come in to spell Lehtonen.  Thomas allowed one goal on 16 shots while his counterpart allowed three on 16.

The Hurricanes started out 2-2 on the powerplay, but they were unable to capitalize on two 5-on-3 chances and partial powerplays later in the game.

The team is now 5-2-2 in it's last nine games, but the playoffs are still too far out of reach for them.  Next up will be the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.

Game Notes:

• The Canes were outshot 34-32 and were led by Eric Staal with six.  Justin Faulk was next with five.
• The team was credited with 20 takeaways compared to three for Dallas.  Loktionov, Nash, Dwyer, and Terry had three each.
• Chris Terry played a very solid game and to go with his two assists and three takeaways, he had one blocked shot and one hit.
• Bellemore had a team high four hits.
• The Canes had 15 blocked shots, led by Dvorak, Bellemore, and Harrison with three each.
• Andrej Sekera was held out of the game after warm ups because of a lower body injury and Mike Komisarek filled in for him.  There was no update of his condition after the game. 
  
• Ray Whitney only played 45 seconds for the visitors and left the game with a lower body injury.  Erik Cole was held out with an upper body injury.
• Faulk played a team high 23:40 while Zach Boychuk was a team low 8:06.