Hurricanes rally, win in overtime

Niclas Wallin skated by the defense and found goalie Martin Brodeur in his way. A couple of seconds later, the puck was in the net, and Wallin was leaping into the arms of his teammates.

How did it happen?

“I don’t know,” Wallin said with a big smile. “But I’ll take it.”

So will the Carolina Hurricanes.

Wallin had the puck knocked off his stick during a rush early in overtime, but it bounced off his skate through Brodeur’s legs at 3:09 to help the Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 Monday night in Raleigh, N.C., and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

A video review upheld Wallin’s first goal of the playoffs.

“Everybody can get the puck to the net, that’s what the playoffs are about,” he said. “Call me the secret weapon.”

New Jersey appeared on its way to a victory in regulation when Scott Gomez deflected in a shot from Zach Parise with 20 seconds remaining. Carolina defenseman Mike Commodore, who was stride-for-stride with Gomez, also got his stick on the puck before it skittered by Ward for a 2-1 lead.

The Devils hardly had completed their celebration when the Hurricanes tied it again, when Eric Staal took a nifty backhanded pass from Justin Williams to beat Brodeur with only 3 seconds on the clock.

Sabres 2, Senators 1: At Ottawa, J.P. Dumont and Jochen Hecht scored goals 2:27 apart in the second period, and Ryan Miller made 43 saves to lead Buffalo to a win over Ottawa.

Buffalo won both opening games in Ottawa to grab a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference semifinal.

Dumont scored his fifth goal of the playoffs 3:33 into the second and Hecht added a breakaway goal moments later in his return to the lineup after missing three games, including Friday’s wild 7-6 overtime win in Game 1.

Sharks 2, Oilers 1: At San Jose, Calif., Joe Thornton scored a power-play goal, his first of the playoffs, and Vesa Toskala made it stand up with 25 saves as San Jose beat Edmonton.

Off the ice

Rangers forward Jaromir Jagr had his dislocated left shoulder surgically repaired, and the team expects him to be ready to play in time for next season. … Defenseman Marek Zidlicky signed a four-year, $13.4 million contract to stay with Nashville. … Canadiens captain Saku Koivu is recovering from surgery to repair a torn retina, with his recovery expected to last several weeks.