Hurricanes Ray Whitney (13) and Joe Corvo celebrate Whitney's goal during the second period. (Gerry Broome/Associated Press)

From elation to complete devastation.

The Flames arrived in North Carolina riding the high of Olli Jokinen's two-goal performance in his Calgary debut, a 5-1 handling of Philadelphia on Thursday that marked the team's sixth consecutive road win.

But the Hurricanes wiped the smiles off their faces Friday night, with Ray Whitney stealing the spotlight from Erik Cole in the latter's return to Carolina.

The left-winger scored three goals, including No. 300 of his NHL career, in a 6-1 waxing of the Flames.

"I've been bought out twice, on waivers twice," Whitney said. "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."

All three scores came on the power play, during which the Hurricanes went 3-for-7 after connecting just twice in 39 opportunities in the previous eight home starts.

Calgary's penalty kill started the night ranked third in the league coming off a 5-for-5 showing against the Flyers.

Whitney's scoring and Cam Ward's 21-save effort made for a happy homecoming for Cole, who scored a first-period goal in his first game back with the franchise after a trade-deadline deal with Edmonton on Wednesday.

"He didn't disappoint," Whitney said of Cole. "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."

Ward had his shutout bid halted at 16:11 of third period on Jarome Iginla's 29th goal of the season, which extended the Flames captain's points streak to seven games (16 points). Ward finished with 21 saves.

His Flames counterpart, Curtis McElhinney, entered the game seeking his first victory in the Flames' net and proceeded to yield six goals on 33 shots. The second-year goalie 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."

McElhinney couldn't be faulted on this night as his teammates provided little support. Undisciplined play, turnovers and poor defensive coverage were Calgary's downfall.

After combining for seven points in Philadelphia, the Flames' top line of Jokinen between Mike Cammalleri and Iginla was held to the latter's goal.

Flames still 10 points ahead of Canucks

Calgary saw its record fall to 39-20-6 for 84 points, 10 more than second-place Vancouver in the Northwest Division. The Canucks, who host Pacific-leading San Jose on Saturday (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 10 p.m. ET), have played two fewer games than the Flames.

Calgary had scored at least four goals in each of 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."

The Flames, who jumped on the Flyers with four goals in the first period on Thursday, coughed up three in the opening 20 minutes at Carolina.

Whitney, who tops the Hurricanes with 56 points in 66 games this season, opened the scoring at the 14:51 mark with Jokinen serving an interference penalty.

The energetic Cole poked the puck past McElhinney during a goalmouth scramble for his 17th goal of the season after Sergei Samsonov made it 2-0.

Whitney scored his second of the game on a two-man advantage, wiring a slapshot under the crossbar at 7:58 of the second period. He beat McElhinney low to the glove side early in the third for his third goal of the night.

Scott Walker also scored for the Hurricanes, who improved to 34-27-5 with their sixth win in eight games. It was his first goal since Jan. 15. Eric Staal, Matt Cullen and Samsonov each had two points.

Cammalleri had his points streak snapped at five games, while Calgary fell to 2-7-1 on the second night of back-to-back games.

The Flames, who are 2-1 on their seven-game road trip, face Atlanta on Sunday at 1 p.m. MT.

With files from the Associated Press