Canes finally win

RALEIGH -- Victory. At last.

The Carolina Hurricanes, a team that seemed to have forgotten how to win, finally found a way. After going 14 games without a victory, tying the franchise record, the Canes pulled one out Sunday in a tense but thrilling fashion against the Minnesota Wild.

Not that it came easily. Oh, no. The Hurricanes lost a 4-1 lead to the Wild, battled gamely through an overtime period, then won 5-4 in a shootout on Jussi Jokinen's goal.

"This was a huge win," Canes coach Paul Maurice said. "That was enormous for our players. And staff."

Jokinen's shootout goal - a backhander that beat Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom - was the 25th of his career, the most in NHL history. That left it up to Michael Leighton, who was starting his second game of the season in goal for the Canes and denied all three Minnesota shooters in the shootout.

When Leighton made the stop on the third, on a wrister by Marek Zidlicky, he pumped his arms in victory as his teammates swarmed onto the RBC Center ice. Not since Oct. 9, and a 7-2 win over the Florida Panthers, had the Canes had anything to celebrate.

"It's a relief," said Canes winger Ray Whitney, who had a goal and two assists. "We still didn't make that one very easy.

"We needed a big performance out of the goaltender, and we got it with 'Leights' at the end."

The Hurricanes (3-12-4) won it with Leighton making 28 saves. They won it with a season-high three power-play goals. They also won with defenseman Joni Pitkanen and forwards Scott Walker and Stephane Yelle leaving the game with injuries.

The Canes won despite giving up sudden goals to the Wild's Robbie Earl and John Scott -- each getting his first NHL goal -- in a 20-second span of the second period. The Wild then tied it 4-4 early in the third when a Canes pass hit the side of the net and the puck kicked straight out to Earl in the low slot for an easy shot and his second goal.

"You almost think what else can go wrong?" Leighton said.

After a Jokinen goal gave the Canes an early 1-0 lead, Corvo and Whitney added power-play goals. Antti Miettinen scored for Minnesota (7-11-2), but Brandon Sutter quickly answered with a power-play goal to make it 4-1 midway the second period.

"When we kept scoring, I was thinking, 'We're doing good, we're doing good,' " Leighton said. "Then they started scoring, and it was like, 'Uh, oh, here we go again.' "

Soon after the Earl-Scott scoring binge, Maurice used his timeout. The Hurricanes steadied, but Earl tied it in the third off the wicked bounce.

"It's not easy when you lose 14 in a row," Whitney said. "Obviously, you tighten up a little bit, and you could see it in our game in the last period. We hung on and gave ourselves an opportunity."

Backstrom stopped Tuomo Ruutu to open the shootout, but Jokinen then scored against his old friend and probable teammate on Finland's Olympic team.

"He's the guy I practice with the most in the summer," Jokinen said of Backstrom. "We know each other pretty good, but I was able to get deep and get it upstairs."

Jokinen has the game-deciding goal in all three Canes victories this season, two in shootouts. But Sunday's goal may have been the biggest given the Hurricanes' run of futility.

"It's one of the best feelings in the world," Jokinen said of snapping the streak.

Leighton last played Nov. 7 against Columbus after goaltender Cam Ward suffered a leg laceration that may sideline him another couple of weeks. The Canes signed goalie Manny Legace last Monday, then started the veteran his first two games.

But Leighton did enough Sunday to pick up his first win since Feb. 5 of last season, in a shootout over the San Jose Sharks. He also did enough to give Maurice something to think about going forward.

"I know, deep down, this is a big game for me," Leighton said. "We lose this game, I don't play well, whether I get another shot, I don't know.

"It wasn't pretty, we got the win. That's all this team cares about right now."

As a smiling Maurice put it, "We're not throwing any back."

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