WRAL Sports Fan

WRALSportsFan

Canes Alone in 8th Spot, Beating Panthers 3-1 as N.Y. Drops

Mar 13, 2007

Raleigh, N.C. — Scott Walker's goal with 15.3 seconds left in the second period was the game-winner, as Carolina topped Florida, 3-1, at RBC Center.

Cory Stillman and Rod Brind'Amour also scored for the Hurricanes, who won for the second time in three games. John Grahame stopped 26-of-27 shots, raising his record to 8-11-2.

Jozef Stumpel tallied for the Panthers, who lost for the second time in their last six. Ed Belfour made 31 saves in the loss.

Florida defenseman Ruslan Salei was sent off for delay-of-game with 1:24 remaining in the second, and on the ensuing power play, Walker hacked away at a loose puck in the crease and knocked it over a fallen Belfour to give Carolina a 2-1 lead.

Brind'Amour added insurance on a back-breaking shorthanded goal with 5:18 left in regulation when he tapped a bouncing pass from Chad LaRose a few inches off the ice and through Belfour's pads.

The win, coupled with a Rangers loss to Ottawa in New York, puts Carolina alone in the eighth spot in the East with 78 points.

Stillman put the Canes on the board with 4:36 to go in the first period, when he had all day to chip the puck into an open net off the rebound of Erik Cole's wrister for his fourth of the season.

With 8:39 left in the second, Florida drew even as Stumpel dipped from the right side to the left, eluding two defenders, before slipping a backhander past Grahame on the far side.