RALEIGH, N. Swell Pullo Hinta .C. -- Cam Ward has made many, many saves in his NHL career. Still, he can appreciate a good one. Ward stopped 35 shots in the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night, with none more entertaining than his desperation stick save against Colin Greening in the first period. "I had goose bumps after that one," Ward said. "We play this game for a living but when you make a save like that, I turn into a little kid. It also was a sigh of relief to get that save because that was a big part of the game in the first period." Ward had already given up a rebound goal to Jason Spezza 1:07 into the game when he stopped Greening to keep it close for Carolina, who scored three times in the second to take command. Ward said his confidence grew immensely playing on consecutive days for the first time this season. He missed 10 games with a lower-body injury and returned to the lineup on Nov. 18. Eric Staal had a goal and two assists, and Patrick Dwyer, Tuomo Ruutu and rookie Elias Lindholm each scored for the Hurricanes, who have won 10 of 11 at home against Ottawa. Staal scored an empty-net goal with 2:29 left. With both teams playing the second of back-to-back games, it was visiting Ottawa which jumped out early on Spezzas 10th of the season But Ottawa coach Paul MacLean said his team didnt play hard enough to win. "We dont play long enough to consistently win," MacLean said. "A three-minute span in the second period and we end up making two costly errors that were self-inflicted. One ends up in our net and the other ends up in penalty, then ends up in our net. Dwyer got his third goal of the season with a stinging shot inside the upper far post from the right circle at 3:10 to tie it. Three minutes later Ruutu gave Carolina a 2-1 lead, and midway through the period Lindholm, a rookie, scored on the power play for the Hurricanes. Ottawa goalie Robin Lehner was solid except for the 6-minute stretch in the second period, finishing with 33 saves. We have to find the answer to why we cant be aggressive three periods a game," Lehner said. "They scored three good ones and we couldnt catch up. The factor on the last two was that they had too much time. The first one was a pretty good goal and the last two they had a lot of time." NOTES -- Carolina LW Jirii Tlusty played his 300th NHL game. ... Staal extended his point streak to six games. ... Ottawa C Mika Zibanejad has three points (1g, 2a) in his last three games. ... The Senators played their 1,600th game in franchise history. Swell Pullo . The D-Backs came into being in 1998 and appear destined to finish second in the AL West after the Tsunami that is the Los Angeles Dodgers swept over them. I thought it might be interesting to see what the D-backs have done over their 16 years compared to what the Blue Jays have done over their past 16 campaigns. Swell Juomapullo . It was a loss. But it was also a learning experience. Deron Williams and Joe Johnson had 24 points each to lift Brooklyn to a 94-87 win over the Raptors, making their first playoff appearance since 08. "I thought we played a little bit as expected as it is our first playoff game," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. http://www.swellbottlesuomi.com/ .com) - The Hatch Attack is back in the Southern Conference.SOCHI – Slow and messy starts seem to be par for the course for the Canadian mens Olympic hockey team. Even though, the 2014 edition enjoyed three days of practice and four skates, in total, before the opener, Sidney Crosby and Co. were not sharp in their 3-1 win against Norway at the Bolshoy Ice Palace on Thursday. There was little authority from Canada. There were some nerves. But slow starts have been the case in the past three Winter Games, when Canada usually had only a day or two of on-ice sessions before the game-action began. Norway deserves credit for its determined game and defensive zone coverage. But even though the Canadians outshot their opponents 38-20, their power play (0-for-2) was abysmal and their scoring touch around Norwegian goalie Lars Haugen was missing in action. Canadian head coach Mike Babcock revealed afterwards that his club mustered only 24 scoring chances. Canada pulled out the victory because the fourth lline of Jamie Benn, John Tavares and Patrice Bergeron came to play, despite limited ice time, and the defence played an active and effective game offensively. Swell Jälleenmyyjät. At best-on-best tournaments like the Olympics, Canadian players remark time and time again that they want to get better as the tournament goes on. Sometimes they overcome slow starts, like in 2002 and 2010. Sometimes they dont, like in 2006. But a common theme has been a slow start in the preliminary rounds. 2002 L 5-2 SwedenW 3-2 GermanyT 3-3 Czech Republic 2006 W 7-2 ItalyW 5-1 GermanyL 2-0 Switzerland 2010 W 8-0 NorwayW 3-2 Switzerland (shootout)L 5-3 United States Canadian Olympic teams struggle to come together quickly. It doesnt matter if its the bigger international-sized ice surface or the smaller NHL rink. One of the reasons is because they are asked to take on different roles and reduced ice time. Not every one can make the adjustment seamlessly. ' ' '