Canes erase bad taste

Third-period goals by Dennis Seidenberg and Joe Corvo help Carolina atone for a late collapse one night earlier

RALEIGH -- Pick a motivation for the Carolina Hurricanes' game with the Ottawa Senators on Friday night: flushing the Washington loss, building momentum for this lengthy November homestand, the revenge of Joe Corvo or history for Peter Laviolette.

It all added up to a 2-1 comeback win for the Canes, who play six of their next seven games at home.

Friday's win was quite a start, with both personal revenge by Corvo, who was traded by Ottawa for two players no longer with the franchise, and personal history for Laviolette, who became the winningest U.S.-born coach in NHL history.

Corvo's goal with 2:40 left gave the defenseman four goals in two games against his former team. It also put Thursday's gut-stomping loss to Washington in the rearview mirror.

"Good for Joe sticking it to his old team," Canes center Eric Staal said. "We needed it. We talked about leaving the [Washington loss] at the door, but sometimes that's easier said than done."

The Canes led Washington 2-1 on Thursday with three minutes to play. The Capitals scored twice in the final 2:43, including the winner with 10.9 seconds left, to steal the win.

The Canes did the rallying on Friday. Ottawa took a 1-0 lead into the third period, thanks to Mike Fisher's goal with 1:52 left in the second period.

Fighting injuries -- missing were forward Matt Cullen (groin) and wing Patrick Eaves (illness) -- and with captain Rod Brind'Amour playing with a broken nose and stitched-up face, the Canes turned to their defense for goals.

The Canes, who got just 17 goals all of last season from their defensive corps, got two on Friday and have seven in 14 games this season.

Corvo beat former Canes goalie Martin Gerber from the right circle to win the game after a scramble for the puck kept the Canes in position.

Corvo, who was traded last February to the Canes with Eaves for defenseman Mike Commodore and winger Cory Stillman, pumped his fist with extra gusto at his game-winner.

"Yeah, it was inspired," Corvo said. "There's always going to be a significance to it when I play [Ottawa]."

The Senators led 1-0 until the 11:06 mark in the third period when defenseman Dennis Seidenberg netted a long shot from the top of the left circle. Ray Whitney fed Seidenberg, who got help in front of the net with a screen from Staal.

Fisher gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead with a putback on a rebound from a Daniel Alfredsson shot at 18:08 in the second period. Canes goalie Michael Leighton (22 saves) kicked the initial shot away on a 2-on-1 but directly to Fisher's stick.

The Senators thought they had a goal about eight minutes into the first period, and Jason Spezza even celebrated as if he had scored. Spezza had two chances to beat Leighton, the second after Whitney couldn't clear the zone.

Spezza's shot disappeared between Leighton's skates, but the goalie reached from behind his back and scooped the puck between his legs. Spezza raised his arms to celebrate, but the play continued for another three minutes.

Finally, after a stoppage, the shot was reviewed but was ruled no goal.

The Canes needed to build momentum with so many games at home. That was more important to Laviolette than his spot in the record books.

"If you stay around long enough, something will happen," said Laviolette, who has won 163 games with the Canes.

Something good happened Friday; no matter what the reason, the Canes will take it.