Carolina 6, Buffalo 3

Hurricanes 6, Sabres 3: Captain Eric Staal recorded his 13th career hat trick and Jeff Skinner scored twice to lift host Carolina to its first victory.

Defenseman Justin Faulk added a short-handed goal and Jordan Staal, blue-liner Joni Pitkanen and Zac Dalpe each had two assists as the Hurricanes rebounded from a pair of ugly losses to hand Buffalo its first defeat.

Captain Jason Pominville scored a pair of goals and Cody Hodgson also tallied for the Sabres, who were denied in their bid to open the season with three straight wins for the first time since 2008-09.

Skinner and Eric Staal scored nine seconds apart during Carolina's four-goal second period to break a 2-2 tie. Skinner beat Jhonas Enroth (32 saves) on a wrap-around before Staal's first goal made it 4-2 entering the third period.

Pominville beat Cam Ward (30 saves) with a one-timer to cut the deficit to 4-3 at 6:06 of the final period but Eric Staal countered just over three minutes later to restore the two-goal edge before notching an empty-net tally to finish the scoring.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Staal registered his first hat trick since scoring three goals against Anaheim on Dec. 18, 2010. ... Buffalo LW Thomas Vanek, who had a league-high six points through two games, collected two assists. ... Sabres RW Drew Stafford played in his 400th career game.

• Carolina will play their next game on the road against Carolina . The Hurricanes have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .500 after a loss.
• Buffalo will play their next game at home against Carolina . The Sabres have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .000 after a loss.