Eric Staal scored the tying and winning goals
to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 overtime victory against
the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
Mark Recchi, Janne Niskala and Vinny Lecavalier scored for
Tampa, which led 3-0 about 9 minutes into the second period. The
loss denied new Lightning coach Barry Melrose his first victory
since 1995, when he left coaching to join ESPN as an analyst.
Staal tied the score at 9:56 of the third period, prompting
Lightning goalie Mike Smith to shatter his stick with two hard
slams on the crossbar. Staal then got the game-winner from the left
circle with 23.6 seconds remaining in the extra period.
Rod Brind'Amour and Matt Cullen also scored for Carolina.