Hurricanes Win Eighth in a Row

Martin Gerber tied his career high with 41 saves, and Erik Cole scored on one of two penalty shots as Carolina defeated Buffalo, 5-3, on Wednesday night at Buffalo, N.Y., the Hurricanes’ franchise-record eighth straight victory.

The streak eclipsed the seven-game winning streak set 20 years ago when the team was based in Hartford, Conn.

Ray Whitney, Michael Zigomanis, Frantisek Kaberle and Justin Williams also scored for the Hurricanes, who haven’t lost in regulation since Oct. 8, winning 10 of 11 games since.

“I made the move I wanted, but not the shot I wanted,” said Cole, who became the first player in NHL history to take two penalty shots in one game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Atlanta 5, Pittsburgh 0 -- Jim Slater scored his first career goal and Mike Dunham stopped 24 shots at Atlanta.

Marc Savard had a goal and two assists for Atlanta. Marian Hossa, Slava Kozlov and Peter Bondra each had a goal and an assist and Ilya Kovalchuk had two assists for the Thrashers.

Columbus 3, St. Louis 1 -- David Vyborny scored two goals and Marc Denis stopped 24 shots at Columbus, Ohio, as the Blue Jackets extended the Blues’ franchise-record losing streak to nine games.

Manny Malhotra and Nikolai Zherdev each had two assists for the Blue Jackets, who came in having scored the fewest goals (28) in the NHL.

New York Rangers 4, Florida 3 -- Petr Prucha scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Rangers the victory at Sunrise, Fla.

Dominic Moore of the Rangers tied the score with three seconds left in the third period. Steve Rucchin and Martin Straka also scored for the Rangers.