Tuomo Ruutu has first NHL hat trick to help Hurricanes beat Stars 6-3

Ruutu has hat trick in Hurricanes’ win

RALEIGH, N.C. — Tuomo Ruutu had his first career hat trick, and Cam Ward made 24 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Dallas Stars 5-3 on Wednesday night.

Eric Staal had a goal and two assists, and Jussi Jokinen had a goal and an assist. Last in the NHL, the Hurricanes won for only the eighth time this season.

Loui Eriksson, Steve Ott and Brenden Morrow scored for Dallas, which tried to rally from a three-goal first-period deficit. While the Stars have earned points in five of their last six games, they only have two wins in their last seven.

Marty Turco made 24 saves for Dallas.

The Hurricanes scored 4:48 into the game when Jokinen — a former Stars player — took a crisp pass from Bryan Rodney and skated past Dallas defenseman Stephane Robidas for a breakaway. Jokinen snapped the puck past Turco’s glove for a power-play goal.

Carolina added to its lead less than 2 minutes later when Ruutu put a backhander through Turco’s legs.

The Hurricanes then took a 3-0 advantage when Jokinen fed Staal with a perfect pass from the corner. Staal was wide open in front of the net and had little trouble one-timing the puck past Turco for another power-play goal.

Dallas had killed off 14 straight penalties before allowing the consecutive power-play goals.

The Stars got on the scoreboard late in the first period when Morrow and Ott combined on a pretty passing play. After Morrow got the puck on the goal line to Ward’s left, he spun around and backhanded the puck to Ott, who chipped it into the net.

Dallas continued its rally in the second when Morrow scored on the power play. Mike Riberio had plenty of space in the middle of the ice and snapped a shot at Ward. Jere Lehtinen tipped the puck off Ward, and the rebound came to Morrow, who tapped it into the net.

Ruutu gave the Hurricanes an insurance goal 4:47 into the third when he lofted a puck into the crease while rushing along the boards.

Eriksson scored on a rebound with 1:04 remaining for Dallas.

Ruutu finished the scoring with an empty-net goal with 5.3 seconds left.

The Hurricanes have scored more than three goals in only seven games this season. They entered the night with the fewest goals in the NHL.

NOTES: Carolina was without three of its regular defensemen. Tim Gleason missed the game after taking a puck off the face against Washington on Friday night. Niclas Wallin is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, while Joe Corvo is out for 2-3 months after being cut on his leg with a skate. … Dallas defenseman Trevor Daley (upper-body injury) didn’t return to the game after taking a hard hit late in the first period.