Hurricanes 3, Lightning 1

For once, or rather twice, the Carolina Hurricanes have won in regulation.

With a 3-1 regulation win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at the RBC Center Saturday, the Hurricanes won only their second game in regulation of the season.

The Hurricanes, who had picked up points in the last four games, with three of those games going to a shootout and the other an overtime loss, might have gone there again if not for forward Chad LaRose. ...

LaRose scored his first goal of the season and gave his team a little breathing room and a 3-1 lead over the Lightning at 15:37 in the third period.

Hurricanes forward Sergei Samsonov stole the puck in the middle of the ice. He and LaRose bursted down the ice and Samsonov, at center, passed right to LaRose, who fired past Mike Smith.

It was a milestone for Samsonov, who now has 300 career assists. ...

Carolina Hurricanes forward Chad LaRose scored his first goal of the season and gave his team a little breathing room and a 3-1 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning at 15:37 in the third period.

Hurricanes forward Sergei Samsonov stole the puck in the middle of the ice. He and LaRose bursted down the ice and Samsonov, at center, passed right to LaRose, who fired past Mike Smith.

It was a milestone for Samsonov, who now has 300 career assists. ...

The Carolina Hurricanes lead the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 after two periods of play, with goals from Tuomo Ruutu and Jussi Jokinen.

After missing several scoring chances in the first period, the Hurricanes scored a power play goal early in the second period on a power play on Ruutu.

Hurricanes defenseman Andrew Alberts saved a goal, scooping out a slow-moving puck that Lightning center Jeff Halpern had gotten through goalie Manny Legace.

The Hurricanes out-shot the Lightning 10-5 in the period and lead 20-14 in that category after two periods. The Lightning, however, will start the third period with 25 seconds left in a power play from Erik Cole's interference penalty. ...

Forward Jussi Jokinen has given the Carolina Hurricanes their first lead of the night.

Jokinen deflected a shot from defender Joe Corvo on the right wing past Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith at 13:46 in the second period for a 2-1 score.

Chad LaRose also earned an assist, passing the puck to Corvo. ...

Hurricanes forward Tuomo Ruutu has scored a power play goal to tie the Tampa Bay Lightning 1-1 at 2:35 in the second period.

Tampa Bay nearly cleared the puck out of the zone, but defenseman Joni Pitkanen grabbed the puck out of the air and passed to Ray Whitney on the left wing. His pass into the slot was one-timed by Ruutu, giving the Hurricanes success on their first power play opportunity of the night.

The Hurricanes entered the contest at 25th place in the league on power plays, with a 14.7 percent success rate. Ruutu's goal brings that percentage up to 15.6. ...

The Carolina Hurricanes had plenty of scoring chances in the first period, but Tampa Bay leads 1-0 after 20 minutes at the RBC Center Saturday.

To name just a few of those opportunities, Hurricanes forward Ray Whitney couldn't get to the puck in time, with it trickling forward and Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith laid out in front of the net just at about the mid-point of the period.

Then Hurricanes defenseman Joni Pitkanen got a shot to trickle slowly through Smith, but Lightning defender Andre Meszaros was there to save the goal.

With just under six minutes left, Whitney and Hurricanes Erik Cole threatened to score as they skated side-by-side up the slot. Whitney passed to Cole, who passed right back. But Whitney's shot found Smith's pads.

Less than a minute after Carolina winger Tom Kostopoulos drew a tripping penalty, Tampa Bay forward Martin St. Louis put the rebound of a shot by defenseman Kurtis Foster past Carolina goalie Manny Legace. The Lightning were 1-of-2 on power play chances in the period, while not committing a penalty. The Hurricanes out-shot their opponents 10-9. ...

In the pregame lines, Rod Brind'Amour is centering Pat Dwyer and Tom Kostopoulos. ... Joni Pitkanen paired with Niclas Wallin on defense. ...

Canes coach Paul Maurice said goaltender Michael Leighton is recovering quickly from a groin injury suffered Tuesday in Montreal and will travel to Dallas and Anaheim. ...