Hurricanes 1, Sabres 0
Cam Ward made 40 saves and Brandon Suter scored late in the first period as the Carolina Hurricanes moved closer to a playoff spot with a 1-0 victory over the host Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.
Carolina (32-28-10) snapped a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) and is two points behind Buffalo for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Sabres (34-28-8) fell out of a tie for seventh with the New York Rangers, who defeated the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
Ward, who recorded his 15th career shutout, leads the NHL in shots faced and saves. He had 22 stops in the first period but was at his best in the third during a power play when he made a nifty glove save on Tyler Ennis.
Suter gave Carolina a 1-0 lead with 43 seconds left in the first period. After he corralled the rebound of Derek Joslin's slap shot from the point, Suter moved around the pile of players in front of Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller and slipped a backhander into the empty side of the net for his 13th of the season.
Miller made 32 stops for the Sabres.
The Hurricanes were 0 for 5 on the power play and haven't scored in 27 straight chances with the man advantage. They are 3 for 66 in their last 16 games.