Hurricanes Blank Rangers

Arturs Irbe had more than just the New York Rangers as an opponent, he was also fighting the flu.

Irbe, playing with a fever and chills, recorded his 22nd career shutout as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Rangers 1-0 Sunday night.

"I was pretty much dead meat from 6 o'clock last night until midnight, and today I felt like I was laboring hard," Irbe said. "Usually, I am just gliding in the net and barely break a sweat in a game."

"I knew my body was a little off-balance, but it benefited me," he said. "It kept me away from all those dumb plays I can pull off."

Andrei Kovalenko's second-period goal was the game-winner. He now has 10 goals in 22 career games against the Rangers.

Irbe, pulled in the second period of Friday night's 4-4 tie with Anaheim after giving up three goals, was sharp this time. He stopped 30 shots for his third shutout of the season.

The closest the Rangers came to scoring was when Mathieu Schneider hit the post to the left of Irbe early in the second.

"When I heard the post I knew it wasn't going in," said Irbe. "We goalies, we know when it hits the post if it's going in the net or across your back or wide. I guess all those hits in practice and the games teaches you."

The Rangers, coming off a pair of wins over Toronto, couldn't string together their third three-game winning streak of the season as they played against one of the teams they're chasing in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

"I'm not frustrated at all," Rangers coach John Muckler said. "We layed well enough to win the hockey game, we just had the misfortune of losing it because we couldn't score goals. That's where the improvement has to be."

The Hurricanes, urged this week by coach Paul Maurice to shoot more, complied for a third straight game. Carolina, which moved back to the .500 mark, fired 28 shots at New York goalie Mike Richter.

Carolina is now 4-2-1 in its last seven games after losing seven of nine.

"We had a little talk before the new year started and we were just disappointed in the way we were playing as a team," said Carolina captain Ron Francis. "We wanted to get back to what is going to make us successful and that's concentrating on our game, playing smart out there. We have done that lately."

Kovalenko's goal came on a great individual effort 6:34 into the second. The left-winger swept in behind the net, and circled into the slot with a New York defenseman trailing, lifting a high back-handed shot over Richter's glove.

"They don't call him The Tank for nothing," Francis said, referring to Kovalenko's nickname. "He is extremely strong on his skates and that was a great example. What a great goal."

Gary Roberts picked up one of the assists on Kovalenko's goal to extend his point streak to eight games.

The Rangers had scored at least one power play goal in five straight road games, but were shut out Sunday by the NHL's best home penalty-killing unit.

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