RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -Ray Whitney is too busy trying to help the Carolina Hurricanes reach the playoffs to give much thought about personal milestones.

Even if he did, this is one he never saw coming.

Whitney reached 300 career goals Friday night, scoring three power-play goals in the Hurricanes' 6-1 victory over Calgary.

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``I've been bought out twice, on waivers twice,' said Whitney, playing his 17th NHL season. ``I've seen it all, that's for sure, so 300, I'll take that. Probably a lot of people didn't think that would happen, myself included.'

The Hurricanes won for the sixth time in eight games to remain tied with Buffalo for ninth place in the race for the eight Eastern Conference playoff spots. The Hurricanes and Sabres are two points behind fifth-place Montreal and a point behind Pittsburgh, Florida and the New York Rangers.

Erik Cole scored a first-period goal in his first game back with Carolina after a trade-deadline deal with Edmonton on Wednesday.

``He didn't disappoint,' Whitney said. ``He played the game that we thought he would. Getting a goal, I thought, was big for him to ease any pressure he might have felt.'

Cam Ward made 21 saves for the victory. Calgary, coming off a 5-1 win in Philadelphia on Thursday night, had scored at least four goals in its last five games.

``I think it just goes to show the potential we have as a team,' Ward said. ``It was a true test against arguably one of the top teams in the league, and we played a complete 60 minutes tonight.'

Sergei Samsonov and Scott Walker also scored for Carolina.

Jarome Iginla spoiled Ward's shutout bid, scoring his 29th goal with 3:49 left.

Curtis McElhinney allowed all six goals for Calgary, a night after NHL victory leader Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 35 shots in the win in Philadelphia. McElhinney is winless in 13 NHL appearances.

``Unfortunately, he's had a lot of, 'One of those games,'' Iginla said of McElhinney. ``He made a great save off the start and it could have been a game-breaker save, but unfortunately we didn't respond. We all feel responsible and it's hard to accept for him.'

At Buffalo, N.Y., Tim Connolly had two goals and two assists, and Patrick Lalime made 29 saves for Buffalo.

Connolly has five points in two games after signing a two-year, $9 million contract extension Wednesday. Lalime is 2-2-1 since taking over for injured starter Ryan Miller.

Defenseman Andrej Sekera added a goal and assist, and Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford also scored. Matthew Lombardi scored for Phoenix.

At Tampa, Fla., Brad Boyes scored 27 seconds into overtime for St. Louis, and set up two first-period goals.

Boyes won it with his 26th goal of the season after the Blues blew a two-goal lead in the final 8 minutes of regulation. Matt Pettinger cut it to 3-2 with 7:50 left, and Steven Stamkos pulled Tampa Bay even with 15.7 seconds to go.

Andy McDonald had a power-play goal and three assists, David Backes added a goal and an assist, and Keith Tkachuk also scored for St. Louis in the Blues' fourth consecutive road victory. Martin St. Louis added a goal for Tampa Bay.

At Anaheim, Calif., Loui Eriksson scored two goals, Marty Turco made 36 saves to help Dallas move into a tie with Nashville and Columbus for sixth place in the Western Conference, four points behind fifth-place Vancouver.

Mike Ribeiro had a power-play goal and an assist for the Stars, and Steve Ott had two assists to reach the 100-point mark in the NHL. James Wisniewski scored in his first game with Anaheim, and Bobby Ryan added his 23rd of the season.

At Atlanta, Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves for Atlanta, Bryan Little scored with 2:32 left in the first period, and Rich Peverley added an empty-netter.

Montreal is 2-11-1 in its last 14 road games.