RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The Carolina Hurricanes are making a habit
of coming from behind. For the second straight game, they pulled
out a victory after trailing by two goals.
"It's definitely not the scenario we want every night," center
Eric Staal said. "But we're going to take the wins as they come."
Matt Cullen reached around Nick Boynton to knock in his second
goal of the game, helping the Hurricanes rally for a 4-3 overtime
victory over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.
With about 90 seconds before the game would've headed to a
shootout, Aaron Ward carried the puck in for Carolina, but his pass
for Cullen was off the mark. Boynton appeared ready to let
goaltender Andrew Raycroft corral it, but Cullen leaned over to
poke in the winner one-handed before Raycroft could get there.
"I had a lot to prove to myself," said Cullen, who signed with
Carolina a free agent just before the lockout began in 2004. "I
felt like I had a lot more to give."
His goal allowed the Hurricanes to stay unbeaten in four home
games and gave the Bruins their fifth loss in six games, including
two straight in heartbreaking fashion. Two nights earlier in
Toronto, Boston blew a pair of leads and eventually lost in a
shootout to the Maple Leafs.
"We have to do a better job controlling momentum," Boston
coach Mike Sullivan said. "We have to understand those critical
situations, and we have to take charge in those areas. It will give
our team a better chance to win."
Frantisek Kaberle and Erik Cole scored for Carolina, and Ward
and Eric Staal each finished with two assists.
Brian Leetch and Brad Boyes both had a goal and an assist for
the Bruins.
"We're playing well and just having trouble closing them out,"
Leetch said. "We've just got to get better as a team at learning
how to win."
The Hurricanes bounced back from a 3-1 deficit to force
overtime, with Cole tying it about 7½ minutes into the third
period. He stuffed in a rebound when Raycroft kicked away a shot by
Staal.
On Monday night, when they handed Ottawa its first loss of the
season, the Hurricanes also fell behind by two goals. Perhaps this
is the only disturbing trend for a team that has won five of six.
"We got lulled into a game that was not our brand of hockey,"
coach Peter Laviolette said. "Then we kicked in, and we played
Carolina Hurricanes hockey in the third period."
Cullen gave Carolina an early lead before Boston retook it with
a pair of power-play goals, one from Leetch and one from Sergei
Samsonov. Leetch got a break when Carolina center Kevyn Adams tried
unsuccessfully to intercept a pass at the blue line, and couldn't
get back to stop Leetch's slap shot from the point.
The puck was deflected in by Boyes to tie it a 1. Samsonov put
the Bruins ahead when he put back Gerber's save of a shot by Dave
Scatchard.
The margin stretched to 3-1 when Leetch and Boyes worked a nifty
give-and-go to beat defenseman Mike Commodore. Leetch simply poked
the puck past Gerber.
"We're a skating team that needs to utilize that speed, and we
didn't use it to our advantage in the first 40 minutes,"
Laviolette said.
The Hurricanes got within a goal when Cory Stillman's pass let
Staal get out ahead of the pack. He patiently waited while Leetch
hurriedly slid past him, and even though his shot was stopped by
Raycroft, Kaberle was there for the rebound.
"It's momentum, and they took advantage of the momentum,"
Boyes said. "You could feel it, because they kept coming harder
and harder."
Game notes
Carolina RW Radim Vrbata has two goals and an assists in
three games, but was a healthy scratch for the third consecutive
game. He and C Mike Zigomanis appear to be the odd men out in the
numbers crunch; Zigomanis sat for the fourth time in five games.
... After opening with eight of their first 11 games on the road,
the Bruins return home to play the Maple Leafs on Thursday night.