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Sunday, Mar. 12 1:30pm ET
'Canes add to Thrashers' woes | |||||
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BOX SCORE
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The Carolina Hurricanes are doing fine offensively. If Arturs Irbe turns it around, they could land in the playoffs. Jeff O'Neill scored two goals and Gary Roberts and Ron Francis each added two assists Sunday as the Hurricanes beat the Atlanta Thrashers 5-1. "We're generating plenty of offense," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "There have been others players out there (besides Irbe) who didn't play good hockey today." Irbe, who hasn't been playing his best lately, stopped 20 shots to earn his 27th victory. The Carolina goalie, who has played in 62 of 69 games, has allowed three shots from beyond the blue line in the last two games to beat him -- including Atlanta's lone goal Sunday. Mike Stapleton took a pass from Petr Buzek and shot the puck from the neutral zone, across empty ice and past Irbe. "It was a little heartbreaking with the first goal," Irbe said. "I couldn't believe it was in. I shook my head in disbelief." The Hurricanes, with 69 points -- one behind Montreal and Pittsburgh which hold the final two Eastern Conference playoff spots -- have outscored their opponents 22-11 in their last five games. Carolina's 5-3 loss to Boston on Friday set them back and featured two long shots that slipped by Irbe. "It's been two games now with some odd goals being scored," Irbe said. "Some misjudgment of the shots and the ice conditions because the ice is terrible especially the last game." O'Neill scored the game's first goal off a pass from Martin Gelinas just 1:34 in, scoring from close range and then sliding into the net behind the puck as he was tripped. His second goal -- 22nd of the season and the last in the game -- came on a 5-on-3 power play at 12:05 of the third period. At the faceoff, O'Neill picked up a feed from Sean Hill and pushed it past Damian Rhodes to put Carolina up 5-1. "The power play has been clicking," Francis said. "This time of year, it's nice to have special teams working well." Francis assisted on both of O'Neill's goals, extending his own point-scoring streak to seven games. During than span, he has scored three goals and had 10 assists. Coffey broke the 1-1 tie at 4:54 of the second on a feed from Roberts, flipping the puck into the net as he closed in from the right side. The goal was Coffey's eighth, giving him 393 for his career, second-best in the NHL for defensemen. He has 1,520 career points, tops among defensemen. Battaglia made it 3-1 with his 15th goal on a pass from Tommy Westlund at 16:59 of the second. Kapanen scored his 22nd on a pass from Roberts to make it 4-1 at 4:49 of the third. Atlanta has lost eight straight for the second time in its inaugural season. The Thrashers have not won since beating Colorado 4-3 on Feb. 22 and are only 4-27-4 on the road. Rhodes made 27 saves. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Atlanta Clubhouse Carolina Clubhouse RECAPS Carolina 5 Atlanta 1
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