The Hurricanes skater celebrates his return with his first multiple-goal game.
By The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Aaron Ward returned to the lineup and scored two goals for the first time in his career, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night.

Ward had missed 19 games with a wrist injury and was activated just before the game. He came in with only one goal this season in 34 games and just 23 in his seven years in the NHL.

Rookie Eric Staal had a career-high two assists for the Hurricanes, who also got goals from Erik Cole and Craig Adams. Adams’ goal was short-handed into an empty net. He also had an assist.

The Blue Jackets embarrassed the Hurricanes 3-0 in Raleigh on Tuesday night behind Marc Denis’ 25 saves. Rick Nash, Trevor Letowski and Manny Malhotra added the goals in that victory.

The Blue Jackets ended a scoreless streak of 114 minutes, 23 seconds when Nash scored his NHL-leading 37th goal with 7:42 remaining. It was Nash’s 19th power-play goal this season, extending his league lead.

The Hurricanes scored twice within 58 seconds of the first period.

Ward scored his second goal on the power play at 13:03. Ron Francis slid a pass from the right wing to Ward in the left circle, with Ward skating to the dot and wristing a shot that beat Fred Brathwaite low on the stick side.

Cole made it 2-0 with his 15th, zipping a shot past defenseman Scott Lachance and Brathwaite. Rod Brind’Amour set it up with a nifty pass through the crease.

Senators 4, Capitals 1

WASHINGTON – Chris Phillips and Martin Havlat scored first-period goals, helping the Ottawa Senators beat Washington 4-1 Monday night in Peter Bondra’s first game against the Capitals.

Bondra, Washington’s career leader in scoring and most other offensive categories, had his five-game point scoring streak snapped. He was welcomed back by Capitals fans, who showered him with several loud ovations throughout the game.

Wade Redden and Mike Fisher also scored for the Senators, who started a five-game road trip with their second straight victory.

Washington, which traded forward Anson Carter before the game, struggled on offense. The Capitals recorded just three shots in the first period and three more in the third.

Stephen Peat scored Washington’s only goal at 6:28 of the second period, cutting the deficit to 2-1, but the Capitals failed on all five power-play chances.

Ottawa’s Patrick Lalime made 13 saves, a big improvement since allowing nine goals in his two previous starts. It was just his second win in six starts.

Phillips opened the scoring at 8:14 of the first period with a wrist shot that fooled Sebastien Charpentier, starting in goal in place of Olaf Kolzig.

Kolzig has been rumored to be the next Capitals player to be traded before Tuesday’s NHL deadline. Team officials said that he sat out against the Senators because of the flu, the same ailment that supposedly kept Sergei Gonchar out of the lineup before his recent trade to Boston.

Lightning 1, Red Wings 1

DETROIT – Fredrik Modin’s goal with 7:39 left in regulation lifted the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 1-1 tie with the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the NHL.

The Tampa Bay, the Eastern Conference leaders, clinched the Southeast Division title with 91 points. Detroit leads the West with 90 points.

Tomas Holmstrom scored for Detroit.

Detroit defenseman Derian Hatcher, signed away from Dallas before this season, returned to the lineup for the first time since tearing a knee ligament in the third game of the season.

But the Red Wings might have lost another key player as center Robert Lang, acquired from Washington on Feb. 27, didn’t play in the third period for an undisclosed reason. Lang is two points behind Lightning forward Martin St. Louis for the NHL scoring lead.

Detroit recently lost centers Kris Draper (shoulder) and Pavel Datsyuk (ankle).

Both Detroit’s Manny Legace and Nikolai Khabibulin of Tampa Bay made several outstanding saves. Legace finished with 37 saves, and Khabibulin stopped 28 shots.

Holmstrom gave Detroit a 1-0 lead with 4:41 remaining in the second period, as he split the defense pairing of Brad Lukowich and Dan Boyle and beat Khabibulin high on the glove side.

as he was being pulled down by both defenseman.

Modin swatted in a loose puck from the crease to tie it.

Notes: The Lightning are owned by Bill Davidson, who lives in the Detroit area and owns the Detroit Pistons. … Holmstrom had gone 10 games without a goal and seven games without a point.

AP-ES-03-08-04 2220EST