Canes resume streak

TORONTO -- There were so many questions about the Carolina Hurricanes before Tuesday's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Would the two-week Olympic break stall the momentum the Canes generated before the Vancouver Games? How would Carolina's four Olympians respond after being in such an emotionally charged atmosphere?

With the NHL trade deadline today, some wondered who would be - or wouldn't be - in the Canes' lineup. Would Ray Whitney play? Defenseman Aaron Ward?

Forwards Chad LaRose, Erik Cole and Scott Walker all were returning from injury. How would they play? And rookie Justin Peters was making just his third career start in goal.

But the Hurricanes answered every question, emphatically, in a 5-1 win at the Air Canada Centre. LaRose had a shorthanded goal and added two assists, and Jussi Jokinen, Brandon Sutter, Tuomo Ruutu and Sergei Samsonov also scored as Carolina (25-30-7) hardly missed a beat in pushing its winning streak to six straight.

"We've been playing good and we didn't want the break to get us," LaRose said.

Peters, a native of Blyth, Ontario, again was sharp and strong in goal. Sent down to the Albany River Rats of the AHL during the Olympic break, he made 32 stops in picking up his third victory. Peters was just 4:09 away from his first shutout when John Mitchell scored for the Leafs.

"I just try to take the same approach every game," said Peters who had 12 family members and friends make the two-hour trip from Blyth to see the game. "Fortunately the team is playing really well. We took up where we left off and picked up the two points.

"We need to keep doing the same things: work hard, back-check, eliminate turnovers. Everything seems to be working for us now."

The Canes' puck possession was so dominant that Leafs fans booed lustily late in the second period when Carolina set up in the Toronto zone for about two full minutes.

Olympic fatigue? Ruutu, who helped win bronze for Finland, scored in the second period after assisting on Sutter's goal.

Eric Staal, a gold-medal winner with Team Canada, assisted on Jokinen's goal, which extended Jokinen's point streak to 10 games. And Joni Pitkanen, Ruutu's Finnish teammate in Vancouver, had two assists.

Enough said?

Whitney, a central figure in a lot of trade talk, set up Jokinen's goal with a perfectly executed pass on a rush into the Toronto zone. It was one of many by the Canes.

LaRose, activated from injured reserve Tuesday, had missed the last seven games before the Olympic break with a lower-body injury. But he had his pep and fire, bolting down the ice for his short-handed score early in game.

"It was a big night for me," LaRose said. "I've been injured a lot this year, and it was just good to be back and contribute to the team."

Leafs goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere attempted to clear the puck behind his net but whiffed on it. LaRose swept in to collect it and score at 2:53 of the first for the Canes' fifth "shortie" of the season.

The Canes led 1-0 after the first period, but owned the second. Jokinen scored 46 seconds into the period, and Sutter slapped the puck past Giguere midway through the period on LaRose's pass from behind the goal.

"There were a lot of turnovers in the first period, but Justin Peters was really good for us," Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said. "When Sutter made it 3-0, I thought we settled into our game."

When Ruutu slammed in a shot at 13:16 to make it 4-0, the boos rang out. Some Leafs fans had sarcastically cheered Giguere when he cleanly handled the puck after LaRose's score, but the home fans were angry in the second as the Canes put on a passing clinic in the Leafs' zone.

"Any time you play in Toronto or Montreal you want to take the crowd out of it early," Canes forward Sergei Samsonov said. "We continued doing what we've been doing, staying within ourselves and just playing our game."

Ward was held out of the game as a healthy scratch, as was forward Stephane Yelle. The Leafs (19-32-11) scratched forward Alex Ponikarovsky, who may be on the move today before the 3 p.m. trade deadline.

"It's hard to read," Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said. "We may move some players, but it will have to make sense for us."

The Hurricanes brought back four medals from Vancouver - one gold, one silver and two bronze. But they also have the six straight victories, an accomplishment this season.

"I don't think anyone has said we're out of it yet," LaRose said. "We're a good team, and we'll keep pushing for wins."