National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Carolina 4, Florida 3
When: 7:30 PM ET, Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Where: BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Florida
Referees: Dennis LaRue, Ian Walsh
Linesmen: Jonny Murray, Pierre Racicot
Attendance: 14651
Tuomo Ruutu scored twice in a 1:28 span in the third period as the Carolina Hurricanes roared back to beat the Florida Panthers, 4-3, on Wednesday night.

Trailing 3-0 after an abysmal first period, Carolina began chipping away at the deficit on Erik Cole's goal with less than six minutes left in the second period. Jamie McBain's first of the season seven minutes into the third made it a one-goal game, and Ruutu tied it at 12:20.

Ruutu completed the comeback with an unassisted marker at 13:48 as the Hurricanes improved to 3-1-1 in December.

Sergei Samsonov and rookie Jeff Skinner added two assists apeice for Carolina while Justin Peters stopped 21 shots to earn the win in relief of Cam Ward, who was yanked just 1:43 into the first period after surrendering two goals on five shots.

Evgeny Dadonov notched his first career NHL goal for the Panthers, opening the scoring just 29 seconds into the game. Michael Frolik and Bryan McCabe also had goals while Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves in defeat.

Wednesday's game marked the first time in nine meetings that the road team earned the victory.
Top Game Performances
 
Carolina   Florida
Tuomo Ruutu 2 Points Evgeny Dadonov 1
Tuomo Ruutu 2 Goals Evgeny Dadonov 1
Sergei Samsonov 2 Assists Chris Higgins 1
Tuomo Ruutu 1 Power Play Goals Bryan McCabe 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Justin Peters .955 Save Percentage Tomas Vokoun .882
Justin Peters 21 Saves Tomas Vokoun 30
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Carolina 34 4 1-4 2-3 6 21
Florida 27 3 1-3 3-4 8 34
Upcoming Games
  • Florida will play their next game at home against Buffalo. The Panthers have a W/L % of .308 after a win and .600 after a loss.
  • Carolina will play their next game on the road against Atlanta. The Hurricanes have a W/L % of .250 after a win and .562 after a loss.