Cullen Leads Hurricanes Over Rangers in Garden Return
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Matt Cullen had two assists in his return to Madison Square Garden, Cam Ward earned his second shutout of the season and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Rangers 4-0 last night.
Cullen, traded back to the Hurricanes this summer after one season with the Rangers, had the primary assist on Scott Walker’s goal and then helped set up the first of Cory Stillman’s two to give Carolina a 2–0 lead in the first period.
Ward made that stand up, stopping 28 shots for his fourth NHL shutout. It was quite a turnaround for the Hurricanes, who played their fourth game in six days and bounced back from an 8–1 drubbing in Buffalo on Saturday that kicked off a five-game road trip.
Carolina had lost four of six.
On the flip side, it was a downer for the Rangers, who had a chance to tie Ottawa atop the Eastern Conference standings but never showed signs they were ready to build off their impressive 5–2 road win against the Senators on Saturday.
David Tanabe made it 3–0 with 8:30 left in the game, and Stillman finished the scoring at 15:56 with his 15th goal.
Henrik Lundqvist made 25 saves, but allowed more than three goals in a game for just the second time in 25 appearances this season.
Cullen, who never really got settled in New York after leaving the Hurricanes following their Stanley Cup-winning season in 2006, seems to have found his comfort zone back in Carolina. He already has 21 assists this season after recording only 25 during his one year with the Rangers.
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BRUINS 3, ISLANDERS 1
Tim Thomas stopped 33 shots to help the Boston Bruins win for the first time on Long Island in 11 games, 3–1 over the Islanders last night.
Glen Murray, Petteri Nokelainen, and Chuck Kobasew scored for Boston, which was 0–5–4–1 at the Nassau Coliseum since a 4–2 victory on December 22, 2001.
Chris Campoli broke New York’s shutout streak with 1:51 left in the game. The Islanders had been blanked for the previous 140 minutes, 12 seconds. The goal didn’t prevent New York from its first three-game losing streak this season. New York has now gone 13 straight games scoring two goals or fewer in regulation and overtime. Rick DiPietro, who got a respite on Saturday night after starting 18 straight games, turned aside 19 shots for the Islanders.
