Sutton scores pair as Hurricanes beat Wild 4-3 in NHL season opener

Minnesota Wild's Justin Falk, left, vies for the puck with Carolina Hurricanes' Jeff Skinner, during a ice hockey NHL season opener game, in Helsinki, Finland, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Lehtikuva, Sari Gustafsson) ** FINLAND OUT. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. **

HELSINKI - Brandon Sutter scored twice as the Carolina Hurricanes held on to beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in the opening game of the NHL season Thursday.

Anton Babchuk and Jussi Jokinen also scored for the Hurricanes.

Brent Burns scored for Minnesota with 3:21 left to leave the Wild down by one, but Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward made a late save to preserve their win.

Minnesota's Guillaume Latendresse scored at 3:33, but Sutter equalized on a power play with 10 seconds left in the first period.

Babchuk put Carolina in front at 5:58 of the second period, but Minnesota centre Matt Cullen tied it at 9:52.

Finnish centre Jokinen restored the Hurricanes' lead on a two-man advantage at 11:16, and Sutter made it 4-2 at 18:03.