Khudobin makes 30 saves for fourth straight win as Hurricanes edge Senators 3-2

OTTAWA - Nathan Gerbe and Justin Faulk each had a goal and an assist Saturday as the Carolina Hurricanes edged the Ottawa Senators 3-2.

Brad Malone also scored for the Hurricanes (15-25-5) while Anton Khudobin made 30 saves.

Cody Ceci and Mark Stone scored for the Senators (18-18-8), who were unable to get any puck possession in the Carolina zone after pulling Craig Anderson in favour of an extra attacker in the final two minutes.

Anderson finished with 25 saves.

Gerbe scored the winner with a little under six minutes to play in the third period when his shot from 15 feet inside the blue-line appeared to hit something on the way to the net before getting past Anderson.

The teams had entered the third tied 1-1 but less than three minutes into the period each team added another.

Stone gave the Senators their first lead of the game when he beat Khudobin high to the glove side just a minute into the period, but Faulk tied the game at 2:21.

Erik Karlsson had two chances to give the Senators another lead but was stopped by Khudobin on a breakaway on one opportunity and then stopped by the post on another.

The Senators had the majority of opportunities in the first period but it was the Hurricanes who emerged from the opening 20 minutes with a 1-0 lead.

After several turnovers along the side boards the puck went behind the goal line at the side of the Senators net where Patrick Dwyer won a battle with Ottawa defenceman Patrick Wiercioch and fed Malone in front of the net for the first goal of the game.

Malone took a pass and beat Anderson with a quick shot with just 32 seconds left in the period.

Earlier on Khudobin made a great save off Mike Hoffman at the tail end of a two-on-one rush and then caught a break as Curtis Lazar lost control of the puck after getting Khudobin down and out on another two-on-one.

It didn't take the Senators long to respond as Ceci scored 4:39 into the second period.

Erik Condra took a shot the Khudobin stopped but he let out a huge rebound that Ceci caught up to and fired into an empty net as he was following up on the play.

There was an ugly incident not long after as Eric Staal caught Senators defenceman Jared Cowen in the mouth with his stick as he took a full swing at a puck that was on its way down following a high bounce.

Staal took a double minor as Cowen left the ice with a bloodied mouth, although he did return to the game.

Notes— Chris Phillips and Colin Greening were scratches for the Senators. Andrej Nestrasil, John-Michael Liles and Alexander Semin were scratches for the Hurricanes…Anderson played in his 400th NHL game Saturday and 187th with the Senators…The Hurricanes have earned at least one point in 15 of their past 18 games against the Senators…Alexander Semin has just one goal and eight points in 26 games this season after signing a one-year contract in July with the Hurricanes worth US$7 million.