Gerber Sparks Hurricanes to 4-0 Victory

Goaltender Martin Gerber, making his first start in a month, stopped 22 shots Friday night to help the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference finals.

It was Gerber’s his first postseason shutout and enabled the Hurricanes to tie the series, 2-2.

Bret Hedican had a goal and an assist and Eric Staal scored to extend his points streak to 14 games. Mark Recchi and Andrew Ladd also scored for Carolina.

Gerber got the start after he replaced rookie Cam Ward, who was pulled after giving up four goals on 26 shots in a 4-3 loss in Game 3.

Gerber, who stopped all seven shots -- including three on breakaways -- he faced on Wednesday, has not given up a goal in 87 minutes against Buffalo. That’s a big turnaround after Ward replaced Gerber, who was pulled in Game 2 of Carolina’s first-round series against Montreal after giving up nine goals on 34 shots. The Sabres were without three regular defensemen after Henrik Tallinder broke his left arm on Wednesday.