Hurricanes blank Sabres behind Ward''s 36 saves

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Carolina Hurricanes recovered from a pair of heavy losses to shut out the Buffalo Sabres 3-0 on Sunday behind Cam Ward''s 36-save effort.

Eric Staal had a goal and two assists for Carolina, who had conceded five goals in each of their last two games against Florida and Columbus.

"Any time you have embarrassing home losses, a 10-1 score in two games, you''re going to remember that," Staal told reporters. "The bottom line is we had to respond."

Staal scored his 24th goal of the season on a powerplay midway the first period, then assisted on scores by Chad LaRose in the first and Sergei Samsonov in the third as Carolina ended a five-game losing streak in Buffalo.

"I think getting the first goal was important," Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice told reporters. "We had gone five periods of hockey without scoring a goal and it starts to wear on your mind and it changes the way you play."

The shutout was Ward''s fourth of the season and moved the Hurricanes within three points of Florida and Buffalo in the race for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

"All you have to do it look at the standings and you can use that for motivation," Ward told reporters. "Every game is huge for us."

Buffalo pulled netminder Ryan Miller after he gave up two goals off 18 shots in the first period. Replacement Patrick Lalime stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced in the final two periods.

"We just started off lackluster, with no passion, and we got buried in a game we should have been jacked up for," Sabres right wing Patrick Kaleta told reporters.

"They outworked us in every aspect of the game," Buffalo captain Craig Rivet added.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina;

(Compiled by Infostrada Sports, editing by Nick Mulvenney)