Hurricanes 4, Sabres 2
Chad LaRose scored to snap a tie midway into the third period and Cam Ward turned aside 31 shots as the Carolina Hurricanes skated to a 4-2 triumph over the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
Captain Eric Staal collected a goal and two assists and rookie defenseman Justin Faulk and Brandon Sutter also tallied for Carolina, which snapped a modest two-game losing skid to improve to 6-4-3 in its last 13 games.
Thomas Vanek recorded his team-leading 19th goal of the campaign and 223rd of his career to move past Rene Robert for eighth all-time in Buffalo's franchise history.
Although former Calder Trophy winner Tyler Myers returned from a 19-game absence because of a broken right wrist, the Sabres saw center Derek Roy exit Friday's contest early in the first period with an upper-body injury. He did not return as Buffalo fell for the fourth time in five games.
After Sabres captain Jason Pominville tied the game at 6:12 of the third period, LaRose gave the Hurricanes their third lead of the contest 1:58 later.
Flanked by Sutter, LaRose skated into the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 rush and blasted a shot past Ryan Miller on the stick side just inside the post. The goal was LaRose's 11th of the season and second in as many games.