Hurricane Cory Stillman (61) celebrates after scoring against the Florida Panthers' Jason Garrison (52) and Hugh Jessiman (28) during the first period. CHRIS SEWARD - cseward@newsobserver.com
Check out our uncut and edited photo galleries from the game
RALEIGH — Forward Cory Stillman had a goal and an assist against his former team and the Carolina Hurricanes hung on to beat the Florida Panthers 2-1 at RBC Center Tuesday.
In the first period, Stillman scored when linemate Erik Cole broke away and was brought to his knees with Florida's Darcy Hordichuk in pursuit. Cole, sliding towards the end boards, still managed to pass the puck to the slot, where Stillman sent it five-hole at 5:25.
Stillman, in his third game with the Canes since being traded by the Panthers, has scored in consecutive contests.
But it was a frantic end to a game, and the Panthers brought an extra attacker late. Florida outshot Carolina 42-22, requiring Carolina goalie Cam Ward to make some quality stops among his 41 saves.
While the Hurricanes barely held on, the Hurricanes did convert one of their two power play chances.
Stillman was also brought here to help the Hurricanes struggling power play, which entered the game with two goals in the last 38 chances.
On the Canes' first man-advantage in the first period, Stillman sent a slap pass from the top of the right circle to the back door of Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen, where All-Star captain Eric Staal was waiting to knock in what turned out to be the game winner at 14:55.
Panthers wing David Booth wrapped a pass around to the front of the net for center Stephen Weiss, who wristed the puck at 3:58 in the second period, and the Panthers controlled much of the game from then on, even if they failed to score again.
The Hurricanes (30-25-9) were desperately trying to hold onto the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and, with Staal is back in the lineup after missing one game with an upper body injury, they did stay two points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres, who beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in other Tuesday NHL action.
The Canes will next face the Sabres at the RBC Center Thursday.
The Panthers (26-30-7) are in rebuild mode after trading several players away before or at the trade deadline including Stillman and defenseman Bryan Allen, who was traded Monday for former Hurricanes forward Sergei Samsonov.
Javier Serna has covered sports for The News & Observer since 2007. He previously covered growth for the North Raleigh News, and sports at The Truth in Elkhart, Ind. E-mail
Comments
game
Wed, 03/02/2011 - 09:23 — louis12580I would compare last nights game to a box score in baseball. A base hit is a base hit whether it goes 10 feet or 300 feet, it counts the same. Last nights game was a 10 footer. Not pretty, but a win and that's all that matters. Yes, an effort like that tomorrow or friday will result in a loss.
Glad the Canes won
Wed, 03/02/2011 - 09:11 — NCBuff_CaniacBut this was a case wherein the team that played harder and, for most of the game, better, lost. I hope they were looking ahead to Buffalo because if they bring this effort to the buffalo game(s), let alone Chicago or any other remaining opponent, they'll get smoked.
Sad game
Wed, 03/02/2011 - 07:44 — ammy144I thought we were going to actually play in the beginning. The second and third periods were hard to watch. I don't know what happened but to this inexperienced eye our Charlotte boys could have done a much better job. When did we forget how to pass??? I will leave it to our regular bloggers to disect the problems with this game. I just know that even though we won, I had a very let down feeling when this game was over.
Good Observation...
Wed, 03/02/2011 - 09:42 — SkylinerRegarding your thought on team pasing, I texed the very same thought to my son during the game. I had to miss beng at the RBC Center last night but watched on TV and even the Florida announcers remarked about the Hurricanes' "dump and chase" game and how often they fling it around the ice without purpose, more often than not only succeeding in turning it over to the other team.
We have three games yet to play aganst Buffalo. Play against Buffalo the way we did last night and the team is in danger of dropping off the playoff rader screen. The team just does not have a solid defensive game.
It's two points...
Tue, 03/01/2011 - 23:02 — ocolumnbut it wasn't fun to watch. My friends and I felt that the Canes played down to the level of the competition again. Little fire after the opening minutes.