This was a great weekend for my favorite teams. The Carolina Hurricanes won a home-at-home series with the Florida Panthers and the NC State basketball team beat Georgia Tech. But the news for the Hurricanes turns ugly as starting goalie Cam Ward will miss 6-8 weeks due to a 3rd degree MCL sprain.
On Saturday night, the Hurricanes welcomed the Florida Panthers to town with a 6-2 beating of the visitors. The Canes jumped on Florida quickly with Jussi Jokinen scoring at 6:23 in the 1st. Jiri Tlusty added another at 8:39 to give Carolina a 2-0 lead. before the cheers could die down, Jussi Jokinen added his 2nd goal of the night at 9:28 in the 1st. Shawn Matthias scored for Florida at 17:49 and the Canes took a 3-1 lead into the locker room. In the 2nd period, Riley Nash scored his first NHL goal at 5:22, Eric Staal added another at 13:03 and Filip Kuba scored for the Panthers at 19:15. The Canes went into the the 2nd intermission with a 5-2 lead. In the 3rd, Eric Staal added his 2nd of the night and 12th of the season to give the Canes the 6-2 win. Cam Ward had 22 saves on 24 shots. Jose Theodore started the night in goal for Florida, but left the game 2:22 into the 1st period with an injury. He threw out his right leg to stop Jussi Jokinen's shot and stayed on the ice in obvious pain. Theodore had knee troubles for much of last season, the Panthers report that he has an undisclosed lower body concern. Scott Clemmensen came in as relief for Theodore, and the Canes scored 3 goals in 3:05. Theodore had 1 save on 1 shot and Clemmensen had 27 saves on 33 shots.

On Sunday, the Hurricanes made the trip to Sunrise Florida to play in the BB&T Center. The game started out odd and  kept going. The Hurricanes had slated Dan Ellis as the starting goaltender. Ellis was feeling ill and not long before game time, Ward was alerted that he would get the start. The Panthers had goalie issues prior to game-time as well. Panthers goalie coach Robb Tallas suited-up for Sunday's game and was on the bench for most of the first period as the backup goaltender. Jacob Markstrom had been recalled from the AHL's San Antonio Rampage for Sunday's game.  There was a problem with getting Markstrom's equipment to the arena and Tallas, 39, was signed to a one-day contact in the event that Markstrom couldn't play. Markstrom replaced Tallas on the bench with 3:44 left in the 1st period.  Clemmensen started for Florida and the Canes jumped up to a 3-0 lead with Cam Ward turning away all 15 of the Panthers' shots he faced. Then Joe Corvo was defending Jack Skille in fron of the Hurricanes' goal. Corvo slid into Ward and knocked the net off of it's pegs. After the face-off, Ward made a save on another Panthers shot and did not get up from the ice. He was helped into the locker room by 2 teammates. Dan Ellis came in to finish the game and gave up 2 goals but the Canes preserved the win. Justin Faulk, Alex Semin and Jordan Staal had goals for the Canes. Jonathan Huberdeau scored both of Florida's goals. The Hurricanes play the Buffalo Sabres at home on Tuesday night. Buffalo beat Tampa Bay Sunday to give Carolina 1st place in the Southeast. Justin Peters has been called up from the Charlotte Checkers to back up Dan Ellis.

The NC State Wolfpack basket ball team beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 70-57 in Atlanta on Sunday. It was the 5th win in 6 games for the Pack. State moves to 21-8 over all and 10-6 in the ACC. Richard Howell scored 18 points, CJ Leslie scored 13 and TJ Warren had 14. The win moves the Pack into a tie for 4th place with Virginia after the Cavs beat Boston College on Sunday. The next game for the Pack will be Wednesday night against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Raleigh. The Deacs won the early meeting in Winston-Salem 86-84. The Pack needs to win Wednesday at home and again on Saturday when they go to Tallahassee to play the FSU Seminoles for the final game of the season.