Seven Players Score In Hurricanes' Win

TORONTO (AP) _ The Carolina Hurricanes didn't want to endure another disappointing night. <br/><br/>Scoring seven straight goals ensured that didn't happen as Carolina routed Toronto 7-1 on Tuesday

Wednesday, October 10th 2007, 10:18 am

By: News On 6

TORONTO (AP) _ The Carolina Hurricanes didn't want to endure another disappointing night.

Scoring seven straight goals ensured that didn't happen as Carolina routed Toronto 7-1 on Tuesday night. The Hurricanes played like an angry team following a loss a disappointing 2-0 loss to Washington on Saturday.

``The other night, we got beat to every loose puck and we lost every battle and (Tuesday) we were prepared to play right from the get-go,'' said Cory Stillman, who had a goal and two assists.

This win seemed like the ones the Hurricanes enjoyed during their run to the Stanley Cup title two seasons ago.

After missing the playoffs last season, the Hurricanes have their sights set on more success.

``Sometimes you really need a reminder of how hard it is to win in this league,'' said Justin Williams, who also had a goal and two assists.

Matt Cullen, Ray Whitney, Scott Walker, Jeff Hamilton, and Eric Staal also had goals for Carolina.

It was Cullen's first since returning to the Hurricanes. He was traded back to Carolina during the summer after one season with the New York Rangers.

``When we won, everything was easy, and when we lost it was a battle,'' Stillman said. ``You could see it on our faces when you watch video of last year.

``Guys were dragging through the season. But now we're excited to be back. We're a stronger team. Everybody is healthy and ready to play.''

Bryan McCabe scored the only Toronto goal with an assist from Mats Sundin, who earned his 916th point with the Maple Leafs and moved into a tie with Darryl Sittler for the club record.

That was long forgotten once Carolina scored seven consecutive goals.

``It was a flat effort by the whole group and that's it,'' Sundin said. ``Really, there's no excuses to have an effort like that.

``It's not like we're in the middle of a tough schedule. We just weren't good and that's the bottom line. It was bad, it was frustrating.''

The thoughts of both teams and the crowd were with Maple Leafs forward Jason Blake, who played his first game since going public with the news Monday that he is battling chronic myelogenous leukemia _ a rare form of the disease.

He is being treated with medication and doesn't expect to miss any playing time. Blake, who looked strong when he checked Tim Gleason against the end boards in the opening minute, didn't speak to reporters after the game.

Toronto had a two-man advantage when McCabe opened the scoring at 4:21. Williams tied it at 6:46 by sending a wrist shot past Vesa Toskala as the goalie dropped to his knees.

Blake nearly scored his first goal as a Leaf when he tipped a pass, but Ward made the save.

Stillman put Carolina up 2-1 with a power-play goal 23.8 seconds before the end of the period. Stillman made his season debut after missing three games following a car accident.

Cullen made it 3-1 at 11:41 of the second period. Four of Carolina's goals came on power plays. Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette is using five forwards when his team has an extra skater.

``When the other team is coming at our two forwards at the back end it's nail-biting time, but the flip side of that is we've got five dangerous players on the ice,'' Laviolette said.

Whitney made it 4-1 when he slipped a shot between Toskala's legs on a breakaway at 17:23.

``We didn't play our best, not even close,'' Toskala said.

Hamilton added another power-play goal at 5:07 with a slap shot from the middle of the Leafs zone into the top corner of the net, drawing boos from the home crowd.

Staal reached from behind the goal-line to squeeze the puck between the post and Toskala's left skate at 14:07 to make it 7-1.

``Our top three lines are as potent as any in the league,'' Williams said. ``We're hoping this win will be a springboard to more offensive production.''