Hurricanes beat Senators 4-1 for seventh straight victory

Hurricanes run winning streak to 7

RALEIGH, N.C. — Tom Kostopoulos and Rod Brind’Amour scored about a minute apart in the first period, Manny Legace made 25 saves and the Carolina Hurricanes beat Ottawa 4-1 on Thursday night for their seventh straight victory.

Chad LaRose and Brandon Sutter also scored to help the Hurricanes win for the 11th time in their last 13 games.

Legace, a midseason acquisition after an injury to starter Cam Ward, has at least one victory against all 30 NHL teams. He stopped Daniel Alfredsson on a breakaway midway through the third period, then denied Jason Spezza in front of the net.

Former Hurricane Matt Cullen, traded to Ottawa on Feb. 12, scored a goal in his return to the RBC Center, breaking up the shutout on a wraparound with 8:05 left.

Kostopoulos and Brind’Amour, part of Carolina’s fourth line, scored 65 seconds apart on backup goalie Pascal Leclaire, who was pulled after the second goal and replaced by usual starter Brian Elliott.

Zach Boychuk had two assists for Carolina, which used a new lineup a day after a flurry of activity at the NHL trading deadline. The Hurricanes traded five players and a minor-leaguer, mainly for future draft picks.

LaRose, who has missed 26 games this season because of injuries, gave the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead, and Sutter added an empty-net goal in the third period.

The Senators, who won 14 of 16 games before the Olympic break to take the lead in the Northeast Division, have lost two in a row and been outscored 8-2.

NOTES: Alfredsson assisted on Cullen’s goal, giving him 600 assists for his career. … Leclaire faced just five shots in the first period before he was benched. … The Senators have lost five in a row in Raleigh dating to 2007. … During the Hurricanes’ seven-game winning streak, they have outscored the opposition 29-12. … The Hurricanes’ Jussi Jokinen had his points streak snapped at 10.