From the moment Eric Staal stepped on the ice, it was clear it was the Carolina Hurricanes' night.

When those two play well, the Canes are going to have a better-than-average chance of winning. The way the rest of the team played Friday, the Pittsburgh Penguins never had a chance.

Desperate for a win after a disheartening overtime loss Wednesday, the Canes put together a resounding 4-1 win over the Penguins behind two first-period goals from Staal and 33 saves from Ward, who carried a shutout into the final minutes of the third period.

"I kind of had a good feeling coming into the rink," Staal said. "It was nice to get a couple in the right place at the right time early, and we played well, the whole team."

Andrew Ladd and Jeff Hamilton -- playing in injured Cory Stillman's spot with Staal and Erik Cole -- each added a goal for the Canes, who even scored a timely power-play goal to run their lead to four at the end of the second period, chasing Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury -- the only player drafted ahead of Staal in 2003 -- in the process.

It took a two-man advantage with three minutes to go for the Penguins to get anything past Ward, and by then the result was assured.

When Pittsburgh's Erik Christensen banged a shot off the post in the opening seconds, it looked like the Penguins might have the early edge. Ward knew otherwise.

"No, no, no, no, no -- that's definitely a good sign," Ward said. "Christensen has a sneaky-hard shot, and to tell you the truth, I kind of anticipated him going glove side. He dinged it. Anytime it hits the post and goes over the glass, you know it's going to be a good night. You know you're going to get your bounces."

Ward didn't need many bounces. And he had a lead to play with, because after Christensen's opening salvo, Staal took over the game. Strong and aggressive, he dominated the first period.

Staal gave the Hurricanes an early 2-0 lead, firing into the vacated net when Fleury left a huge rebound of a Tim Gleason shot and knocking a backhand off Brooks Orpik's left skate and past Fleury for his second after Cole stole the puck from Orpik in the neutral zone.

Staal nearly had the natural hat trick in the first period, but Fleury stuck out a pad to deny Staal from the slot.

"It was a nice pass from 'Willy' (Justin Williams), and I didn't get enough wood on it," Staal said, still shaking his head after the game. "I didn't get much on it."

Staal was done scoring, but the Canes weren't. Ladd fought off Darryl Sydor during a scramble in front for his first goal of the season, and he screened Fleury on Hamilton's power-play rocket from the blue line that made it 4-0.

If that wasn't enough, Ward stoned Evgeni Malkin on a breakaway less than a minute later to keep the lead at four, one of many such saves on the night.

"I certainly hope he continues down this road, because he looks good in there," Laviolette said of Ward, who has stopped 70 of the 74 shots he has faced this season.

By the end of the second, the Penguins had that same shell-shocked look they had in 2005-06, when they expected to be contenders and flopped -- when Mark Recchi (before his trade to Carolina) was the only player who looked like he cared.

Coincidence or not, Recchi scored Pittsburgh's only goal on a five-on-three with 3:23 to play.

Ward said he wasn't too worried about losing the shutout with so little time left. On this night, it was the least of his worries.

"You know what? That usually would bother me, but tonight it definitely didn't," Ward said. "This season, it's all about the win column. That's where my focus is."

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