Goaltender Cam Ward, who had a 22-save shutout in a 1-0 victory against the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 15 at PNC Arena, will start in a rematch at SAP Center on Saturday. Ward is 6-1-0 with a 2.67 goals-against average, .898 save percentage and one shutout in his career against San Jose. He's 9-7-5 with a 2.17 GAA and .922 save percentage this season. "Ward has been incredible," Hurricanes forward Andrej Nestrasil said after the morning skate. "A goalie really makes a difference because if he can make the big stops, regularly it would be a goal but he somehow pulls it off, that's huge for you. He's been doing that lately, and that's great." The Hurricanes are expected to use the same lineup they had for their 3-1 victory at the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. They began their three-game California swing with a 6-5 shootout loss at the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, when they squandered a two-goal, third-period lead. "We played well recently," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "Even prior to coming out here we played well. We let some leads slip. We let one slip in Anaheim, but if we can get in that position where we have a two-goal lead in the third, I'll be very happy." The Hurricanes have the NHL's No. 1 penalty kill at 92.0 percent, allowing six goals on 75 chances. They killed all 17 penalties they faced in the past five games. "Just a lot of pride," Peters said of the penalty kill's success. Carolina is 3-4-2 in its past nine games.
