Erik Cole scores three times in Hurricane’s 5-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks

Cole scores three times in Hurricane’s 5-3 win

RALEIGH, N.C. — Erik Cole scored three goals and the Carolina Hurricanes held off the Vancouver Canucks for a 5-3 victory Saturday, ending their five-game skid.

Cole’s sixth career hat trick was his first multigoal game for Carolina since he was reacquired from Edmonton on March 4.

Ray Whitney had a goal and two assists for Carolina, which ended Vancouver’s three-game road winning streak. The loss was the Canucks’ six games against Eastern Conference opposition this season.

Carolina goalie Manny Legace stopped 33 shots while Vancouver’s Andrew Raycroft had 23 saves.

Jannik Hansen put the Canucks ahead at 12:02 of the first, beating Legace on a soft shot over his glove-side shoulder from the right circle. Henrik Sedin set up he goal.

But Whitney evened the score for Carolina just 20 seconds later, taking a pass from Eric Staal in the left circle and flipping a backhanded shot over Raycroft’s left shoulder.

Cole put Carolina ahead 2-1 at 3:55 of the second, taking a snap wrist shot from the slot off a pass from Whitney. Sergei Samsonov made it a two-goal lead at 6:06, beating Raycroft over the left shoulder from the right circle.

Carolina made it 4-1 on a power play at 18:59 of the second, when Raycroft appeared to simply lose the puck out of his glove before it slid across the line. Cole, the last Hurricane to touch it, was credited with his second goal.

Steve Bernier brought the Canucks back to 4-2 at 10:07 of the third, receiving Mikael Samuelsson’s pass from behind the goal and across the crease, tipping the puck off Legace’s left skate into the net.

Vancouver cut the lead again at 14:45 of the third, as Alexandre Burrows picked Daniel Sedin’s pass from behind the net out of the air and smacked the puck past Legace.

Cole scored his third goal into an empty net at 19:46.

NOTES: Carolina’s Aaron Ward collected his 100th career assist on Whitney’s first-period goal. Scott Walker was back in the lineup for Carolina and started after missing eight games with an upper-body injury. It was the former Canuck’s 200th game for Carolina. … Carolina forward Jussi Jokinen was scratched with a lower-body injury, while Chad LaRose missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury.