Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Thursday night at Raleigh, N.C., winning for only the second time in the past seven games.

Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho, Taylor Hall and Seth Jarvis also scored for Carolina ... Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo but it was a quick night for goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who gave up two goals in the first eight minutes and was replaced ...

Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho, Taylor Hall and Seth Jarvis also ... scored for Buffalo but it was a quick night for goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who gave up two goals in the first eight minutes ...

Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho, Taylor Hall and Seth Jarvis also ... scored for Buffalo but it was a quick night for goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who gave up two goals in the first eight minutes ...

Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka scored goals for the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made five saves on seven shots in 7:57 before giving way to James Reimer, who stopped 27 of 29 shots in relief. Carolina - the NHL's best team in terms of shot-attempt percentage - led 36-16 in shots on goal.