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BOX SCORE
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The desperate Carolina Hurricanes caught the New Jersey Devils at the right time: slumping and with defenseman Scott Niedermayer starting a 10-game suspension.
Arturs Irbe made 22 saves and defenseman Sean Hill had two goals and an assist as the Hurricanes posted a must-win in terms of their playoff hopes. They added to New Jersey's mounting woes, defeating the Devils 5-0 on Tuesday night.
|  | | Carolina goalie Arturs Irbe couldn't be solved by Randy McKay and the Devils. |
Rod Brind'Amour, Sami Kapanen and Jeff O'Neill also scored as Carolina helped its playoff chances by ending a three-game winless streak (0-2-1) with its most one-sided win of the season. The Hurricanes now have 72 points, 10th in the Eastern Conference.
"To play a team like New Jersey and get points out of it was a bonus," Hill said. "We now have four games at home. This is when we have to make a move. All our guys are focusing on this."
The loss matched the Devils' worst of the season and it came just hours after Niedermayer was suspended by the NHL for 10 games for hitting Florida's Peter Worrell on the helmet with his stick on Sunday.
The suspension will cause Niedermayer to miss the first game of the playoffs.
"That was irrelevant," goaltender Chris Terreri said. "They just outplayed us, plain and simple."
While the Devils continue to lead the conference, the loss extended their recent slide to 5-10-1. The shutout loss was their second of the season -- and second in nine games.
"Of course we are all frustrated, it shows," Devils center Bobby Holik said. "It's not a good thing. Constructive criticism is a good thing. We have to tell each other we stink. We stink because we are not prepared."
Brind'Amour gave Carolina the only goal it would need with a fluky short-handed tally with 33 seconds left in the first period. Hill fired the puck from center ice, but it was knocked down by Jason Arnott on the way toward the goal.
Brind'Amour swooped in and was stopped by Terreri on his initial shot, but he slid the rebound into the net.
The Hurricanes blew the game open with three more in the second period, Hill connecting twice on the power play with shots from the point off passes from Ron Francis and Paul Coffey.
"The power play worked well tongiht," Hill said. "Two passes from Hall of Famers -- you can see why they're headed there. All I had to do is swing and hit the puck."
Kapanen got his on a nice 2-on-1 with Francis, tapping his own rebound under Terreri.
"We didn't do any of the little things right," said Terreri, who faced 37 shots. "We have to realize that teams come in here now who are fighting for their lives. They are going to have a playoff-type pace to their game and we have to pick it up."
O'Neill scored on a backhander from the circle early in the third period to close out the scoring.
The shutout was the fourth of the season and 23rd of his career for Irbe. He made a couple of good saves in the first 25 minutes, but was barely tested after that.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Carolina Clubhouse
New Jersey Clubhouse
Niedermayer hit with 10-game suspension
Morganti: NHL got it right
RECAPS
Boston 4
Tampa Bay 0
Ottawa 7
Atlanta 1
Carolina 5
New Jersey 0
Pittsburgh 8
NY Islanders 2
Florida 4
NY Rangers 3
Philadelphia 2
Nashville 0
Chicago 3
Phoenix 0
Anaheim 5
Los Angeles 2
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