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Recap
Avalanche 5, Hurricanes 4
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -Marek Svatos capped a third-period rally with two goals in a span of 2:07 and the Colorado Avalanche rallied three times from two-goal deficits to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Saturday night.

The late goals gave Svatos nine goals in his past 10 games and helped the Avalanche stop a two-game losing streak. Paul Stastny, Milan Hejduk and Cody McLeod also scored, and McLeod had his first career NHL assist for Colorado.

Marek Svatos, center, is congratulated by teammates Tyler Arnason, left, and Wojtek Wolski (8) on his game-tying goal in the third period. Svatos would later net the game-winner to lead Colorado to the 5-4 victory over Carolina on Saturday. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

Erik Cole, Keith Aucoin, Chad LaRose and Cory Stillman scored for the shorthanded Hurricanes in their second loss in a row at home. They have only two victories in their past eight games, thanks mostly to an injury list that goes six-deep. Those out include Matt Cullen, Justin Williams and Bret Hedican.

Still, Carolina controlled the first two periods and led 4-2 entering the final 20 minutes. That's when the game fell apart for the home team.

McLeod, called up from the AHL in December, got it started with a good effort behind the net as he stuffed the puck over the left leg of goalie Cam Ward to make it 4-3, and Svatos took over from there.

First, he reached around Carolina defenseman Niclas Wallin to poke in a rebound to tie the game, then grabbed another blocked shot to give the Avalanche the lead. Ward made a nice save but lost control of the puck, and Svatos was the first one there to put it through for the game winner.

The loss also spoiled Ward's first assist of the season, when he moved way out of the crease at the end of a power play to get the puck to Casey Borer. Borer passed to Stillman, who beat Theodore with a slap shot from just outside the right circle.

That one made it 4-2 before the Avalanche's comback.


Three star selections
1st:   MAREK SVATOS
2nd:   PAUL STASTNY
3rd:   KEITH AUCOIN
Winning Goaltender
Jose Theodore

Losing Goaltender
Cam Ward
Avs Alert
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