Canes needed a jolt

Shootout win gives them just that

RALEIGH -- The Tampa Bay Lightning had a new coach and was playing with renewed energy.

But the Carolina Hurricanes, trailing 2-0 in the second period and staring at a fourth straight defeat, reached down and found some energy of their own. They also found something else they have been lacking lately -- a way to win.

After goals by Wade Brookbank and Rod Brind'Amour tied the score in the second period, the Canes battled into overtime and won a shootout for a 3-2 victory.

Tuomo Ruutu started the shootout for the Canes, blasting a shot past Lightning goalie Mike Smith. After the Canes' Cam Ward stopped Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier on a weak backhand attempt, Brind'Amour knocked in a shot.

With the crowd standing and at full throat, the Lightning's Jussi Jokinen skated in on Ward. But Jokinen's rising shot nicked off the post, and the Hurricanes quickly came bolting off the bench to swarm about Ward for a celebration that was equal parts jubilation and relief.

"We played with a lot of emotion, and that's something we desperately needed," Ward said. "To be able to come back, being in a hole 2-0, it's huge for us, and hopefully we can build off that."

On Friday, the Lightning (5-7-5) fired first-year coach Barry Melrose after 16 games and elevated associate coach Rick Tocchet. It was Tampa Bay's first game since the change, and the Lightning took a 1-0 first-period lead on Martin St. Louis' goal off the rush.

Early in the second, the Canes (9-7-2) were on the power play, only to be penalized for having too many men on the ice -- a "marginal call," Canes coach Peter Laviolette later said. Soon adding to their misery with Tampa Bay on the abbreviated power play, the Lightning appeared to have too many men on the ice during a change when Lecavalier came off the bench.

No penalty was called, and Lecavalier scored seconds later for a 2-0 lead. Laviolette lashed out in anger at the referees while Canes fans loudly booed.

"It's adversity," Brind'Amour said. "When you get in a situation like ours, it seems like every call is going against you, every little bad thing is going against you.

"It's the kind of thing where you have two choices: You can kind of sit there and go, 'Woe is me,' or you can say, 'We can rely on ourselves.' "

The Hurricanes don't rely on tough guy Brookbank for goals. But Brookbank slung a shot past Smith at 14:19 of the second -- his first goal, and point, of the season.

"They probably weren't expecting that," the Canes' Ray Whitney said, smiling. "Any time you have other people who are struggling to score, you're going to need something from some unlikely people.

"To see his enthusiasm, to see how much excitement that brought to the building, maybe that's the one guy we need to score to bring the rest of us up to that level."

When Brind'Amour scored off a Scott Walker pass at 15:37 of the second -- his team-high seventh goal -- it was 2-2.

The building was rocking.

But the Canes had one shot on goal in the third and again were penalized for too many men on the ice with just 14.8 seconds left. The Lightning went into overtime on the power play, but Ward was stout in goal and the hustling Canes killed it off.

"We were down, and they really should have put us away," Brind'Amour said .

The Canes took a shootout loss against the Canadiens at Montreal in late October. But Ruutu and Brind'Amour, who were not used in the shootout at Montreal, changed that.

Will the victory change the course of Carolina's season?

"You hope it puts us in the right direction," Brind'Amour said. "Our game still is not where you want it to be. You could tell we were lacking a little confidence out there.

"But a win is a win. We'll take it. We were more desperate than any team out there."