Hurricanes 4, Lightning 3 (OT)

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TAMPA — Another day, another game, another comeback victory.

Trailing the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0 late in the second period, the Carolina Hurricanes fought back to force overtime and then won 4-3 on Eric Staal's goal.

Power-play goals by Rod Brind'Amour and Matt Cullen, and then an even-strength goal by Staal tied the score. Staal then won it at 4:56 of OT on a shot set up by Ray Whitney.

"We don't want to do that every game but we'll take it," Staal said. "The guys kept battling and battling. We really put the pressure on them. We kept attacking and attacking."

The Hurricanes, after falling behind 3-0, broke through on  Brind'Amour's power play goal with just 8.7 seconds left in the second.  The Canes had failed to score with a two-man advantage a few minutes before Brind'Amour's goal.

Cullen followed early in the third and then Staal struck at 9:56 to make it a new game.

Mark Recchi's goal at 8:20 of the first period gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead in its home opener. Recchi, a member of the Canes' 2006 Stanley Cup champions, scored on a rebound of a Matt Carle shot against Michael Leighton, getting the start in goal.

Defenseman Janne Niskala then added a power-play goal at 10:27 after Wade Brookbank's roughing penalty. ...

Defensemen Anton Babchuk and Josef Melichar are again healthy scratches for the Canes. ...

It's hard to find too much fault in a 6-4 season-opening win, and Canes coach Peter Laviolette was pleased -- both last night after beating the Florida Panthers and after reviewing the game video.

But he is a coach. And coaches, you know, are never completely pleased.

"I liked some of the things I saw last night and some things we can get a lot better at," he said today as the Canes prepared to play the Tampa Bay Lightning. "We gave up too much and I don't think we generated enough. I do think there's room for improvement.

"There were things I liked about the game. I liked our resiliency. I liked coming back from 2-0. We gave up the lead and tied it up and came back again and played pretty good down the stretch. 

"There were some real positives to take from it but I think there is room for improvement."...

While Cam Ward was big for the Canes in goal when it counted, Laviolette wants sharper defensive play tonight against the Bolts. 

"It needs to be better," he said. "It's early, but I think communication goes a long way. There are times when we could have talked and eliminated a lot of problems. 

"Maybe we're just not comfortable. The lines are still somewhat new. You could tell it was early in the season, but we need to get better than we were in front of the goaltender last night."

Rod Brind'Amour put in almost 18 minutes in the opener but said the left knee was holding up. "It's fine, no big deal," he said today. ...