Carolina again rallies from two goals down, beats Philadelphia

Matt Cullen beat Antero Niittymaki from the right side late in the third period Friday night and Eric Staal had a hat trick as the Carolina Hurricanes rallied again and beat the Philadelphia Flyers 8-6 in Raleigh, N.C.

Carolina overcame a two-goal deficit for the third straight game to extend the best start in franchise history (7-2-1). Cory Stillman added a third-period goal and assisted on Staal’s first-period tally.

The team’s previous best start after 10 games was a 6-3-1 opening in 1984 as the Hartford Whalers.

Jonathan Sim scored two goals for the Flyers, who were coming off an overtime win against Florida on Thursday.

Both teams were 4-0-1 in their previous five games, with Carolina leading the Southeast Division.

Blue Jackets 2, Wild 1 (SO): In Columbus, Ohio, Trevor Letowski scored in the fifth sudden-death shootout round – the NHL’s longest tiebreaker this season – to give Martin Prusek and a victory over Minnesota.

Columbus had four quality shots in the overtime, extending their franchise record to 53 shots for the game. The Blue Jackets also put a record 24 shots on goal in the third period, with Minnesota goaltender Dwayne Roloson stopping 23.

Devils 3, Sabres 2: In East Rutherford, N.J., Sergei Brylin scored the winning goal on the power play with 5:23 remaining and New Jersey backup Scott Clemmensen made 25 saves to lift the Devils past Buffalo.

Scott Gomez and Eric Rasmussen also scored for the Devils, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Sharks 5, Kings 4: In Los Angeles, Jonathan Cheechoo swept the puck in during a goal-mouth scramble with 3.7 seconds left and Patrick Marleau had a goal and two assists to lead San Jose to a victory over Los Angeles.

Cheechoo, Mark Smith and rookie Milan Michalek each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who scored on their first shot against both of Los Angeles’ rookie goaltenders, Mathieu Garon and Jason LaBarbera.

Mighty Ducks 6, Blues 4: In Anaheim, Calif., Teemu Selanne scored two goals, including one of Anaheim’s three power-play tallies, and the Mighty Ducks rallied from an early deficit to defeat St. Louis.

Lightning 4, Capitals 2: In Tampa, Fla., Vincent Lecavalier scored a tiebreaking, power-play goal with 5:07 left to lift Tampa Bay over Washington.

Oilers 5, Stars 3: In Dallas, Radek Dvorak scored the tiebreaking goal at 8:12 of the third and Edmonton snapped a seven-game losing streak with a victory over Dallas.

Off the ice

The Capitals are suing Alexander Semin and his agent for breach of contract because the left wing is playing in his native Russia instead of reporting to Washington.

Semin, taken in the first round of the 2002 NHL draft, signed a three-year deal with the Capitals in 2003. He played for Washington in 2003-04, then was told to report to AHL club Portland in during the NHL lockout. Instead, he went to play for Russian team Lada Togliatti.

•St. Louis Blues wing Keith Tkachuk will be out three to five weeks with cracked ribs.

•Pittsburgh Penguins defensman Dick Tarnstrom, who led the team in scoring during the 2003-04 season, will be out indefinitely because of a torn knee ligament.

•The Blue Jackets activated center Dan Fritsche after he missed four games with an ankle injury.