PITTSBURGH – Rod Brind’Amour, Eric Staal and Glen Wesley scored within a 41/2-minute span of the third period, rallying the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Hurricanes have won five in a row, including four straight in which they came back from two-goal deficits.

Carolina was down 3-1 with under eight minutes to play but stormed back to win again. Justin Williams sealed the victory with an empty-net goal in the final minute. The Hurricanes, who got four assists from Eric Staal, have earned at least one standings point in eight consecutive games.

Brind’Amour’s goal, his seventh, came on the power play on assists from Ray Whitney and Matt Cullen with 7:34 to play. Just 90 seconds later, Glen Wesley notched his 200th career point with the Hurricanes when his shot from the point made it through traffic. The goal was originally credited to Staal.

Whitney gave Carolina a 4-3 lead with 3:14 remaining while Penguins rookie Sidney Crosby was serving an interference penalty.

Cory Stillman gave Carolina a 1-0 lead while the Hurricanes had a 5-on-3 advantage. Stillman knocked in a pass from across the crease from Whitney at 3:19 of the first period. Stillman finished with a goal and two assists.

The Penguins tied it at 1 when John LeClair slammed home Konstantin Koltsov’s rebound with just under six minutes to play in the period. The goal was LeClair’s fourth and gave him at least one point in four consecutive games.

Sergei Gonchar gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead when he scored a disputed goal on a two-man advantage at 2:06 of the second period. Gonchar’s shot on a feed from Mark Recchi was caught by Carolina goalie Martin Gerber. The Penguins successfully lobbied officials Dave Jackson and Chris Rooney to review the play. Although there is no overhead camera at Mellon Arena, replay officials awarded Pittsburgh the goal.

The Penguins took a 3-1 lead when Ziggy Palffy was credited with a goal that went through Gerber’s legs eight minutes into the second period. Palffy was streaking down the right wing and attempted a centering pass to Ryan Malone. The puck deflected off a Hurricanes player’s stick and went into the net.

Notes: Crosby was held scoreless for only the second time in 11 games. … Penguins owner-captain Mario Lemieux played his 900th NHL game. … Staal, who led the NHL in scoring coming into the game, extended his points streak to six games. Cullen has a five-game streak. … Carolina’s Frantisek Kaberle had his point streak snapped at five. … The Penguins embark on their longest trip of the season – five games – starting Tuesday in New Jersey.

AP-ES-10-29-05 2224EDT

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