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Kirk Muller finally gets his first win as Hurricanes coach

Kirk Muller

Carolina Hurricanes head coach Kirk Muller speaks to his team during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. Rangers won 5-3. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

AP

After failing in his first four games as an NHL head coach, Kirk Muller finally got a W. The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-3, which stopped the Canes’ overall losing streak at seven.

Sure, it was against a fast but flawed Oilers team. And yes, Edmonton trotted out struggling backup Devan Dubnyk for this game. Muller & Co. probably don’t care about the “Yeah, but ...” comments right now, though.

It was a team effort as five different players provided Carolina’s goals and Tomas Kaberle was the only player with a multi-point game thanks to two assists.

Even Cam Ward can build off this performance. Allowing three goals on 25 shots is far from great, but after going through six starts without a victory, Ward will take any win he can get.

Carolina remains the worst team in the East and with 22 points in 30 games played, it’s quite possible that the Anaheim Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets might push them all the way down to the basement of the NHL.* Still, Carolina’s best years included surprising hot streaks, so this is a reason for some optimism, if nothing else.

* - Anaheim has 21 points with 27 games played while Columbus has 19 pts. in 27 GP.