The Carolina Hurricanes ended a 6 game 12-day road swing last night with a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils, the top team in the East, at the Prudential Center. The devils scored 1st on a late first period  power play goal by Ilya Kovalchuk that originally was waved off by the ref. When play stopped, the goal was reviewed and replay showed it had hit the back of the goal and bounced out. New Jersey was awarded the goal and the clock was reset to 4:01. The Devils took the lead into the locker room.

The second period was all Hurricanes. Jussi Jokinen scored his first goal of the season on a power play at 1:36 with assists from Joe Corvo and Joni Pitkanen. At 18:26 Patrick Dwyer tipped in a shot from Jay Harrison on a pass from Justin Faulk.  Dwyer got credit for the goal and Harrison and Faulk picked up points on assists.Joni Pitkanen left the game during the 2nd with an upper body concern. The Canes lead 2-1 as the crowd in Newark headed for the concession stands after the 2nd period.

In the 3rd, Ryan Carter's wrister at 1:34 tied the game at 2-2. But Jiri Tlusty scored on a wrister of his own at 7:25 with the assist going to Eric Staal. Jiri added an empty netter at 19:26 to make the final 4-2, getting assists from Eric Staal and Justun Faulk. This was the second 2 goal game in a row for Tlusty, who scored 2 against the Islanders in New York on Monday. Cam Ward had 26 saves on 28 shots.

The Canes' victory snapped a 5 game win streak for the Devils. The win also put Carolina at 4-1-1 (7-4-1 overall) on the 6 game road trip. Eric Staal is on a 10 game points streak, scoring 8 goals and tallying 8 assists. The Hurricanes are in 3rd place in the East with 15 pts, 3 behind Boston and 4 back of the Devils. Carolina sits atop of the Southeast division, 2 points ahead of the Tampa bay Lightning.

The Hurricanes come back home to face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Valentine's Day. So take your valentine to PNC Arena for a great hockey game!