Hurricanes 3, Devils 1

The Carolina Hurricanes got some timely goaltending from Cam Ward and scoring when they needed it as they defeated the New Jersey Devils, 3-1 on Saturday night in front of 11,654 at the PNC Arena.

Ward made 19 saves on 20 shots and was strong at the end of the game when he saw the most chances against.  At the other end of the rink, Cory Schneider allowed three goals on 25 shots for the losers.

After a scoreless first period, defenseman Brett Pesce got the scoring started midway through the second when he guided a puck toward the net as he tried to take advantage of Andrej Nestrasil's presence in front of the net.

It was the rookie's third goal of the season.

The Devils tied things up early in the third period but the Canes were not to be denied this time around.

A few minutes later, Kris Versteeg brought the puck into the Jersey zone, passed it to Eric Staal cross-ice, and the captain found Justin Faulk skating in.  Faulk made no mistake, beating Schneider for the game-winner with his 13th goal of the season, his first even strength goal of this campaign.

Faulk had another superb outing as he led the team with 22:13 of ice time, was tied with the team lead with three shots on goal, had an assist to go with his goal, and had three hits.

Joakim Nordstrom blasted a puck in the net later in third to close out the scoring.

The Hurricanes will next fly to Chicago and will take on the Blackhawks on Sunday night.

Game Notes:

• The Canes outshot the Devils 25-20.  Along with Faulk, Ron Hainsey, Nordstrom, and Elias Lindholm also had three shots each.
• Phillip Di Giuseppe was tied with the team lead with three hits.
• Canes PR stats and audio