Senators 3, Hurricanes 2: Milan Michalek scored in his second consecutive game and Craig Anderson made 32 saves as host Ottawa held off Carolina.

Rookie Mika Zibanejad and Chris Neil also tallied and veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar recorded a pair of assists for the Senators, who have won three straight to pull within three points of provincial-rival Toronto for the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Captain Eric Staal and defenseman Justin Faulk each recorded a goal and an assist and Justin Peters turned aside 31 shots as the Hurricanes fell to 2-14-1 in their last 17 games.

Zibanejad opened the scoring with 2:38 left in the first period, one-timing a beautiful feed from rookie Cory Conacher in the right faceoff circle. Michalek tallied 5:59 into the second by sending a wrist shot high over Peters’ right shoulder.

Faulk scored from the slot midway through the second period when his wrist shot tricked past Anderson. Neil finished off a 2-on-1 break with Guillaume Latendresse 2:12 later to restore the two-goal advantage.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Carolina C Jeff Skinner suffered an upper-body injury in the first period after he was leveled by Ottawa D Jared Cowen, who was making his season debut. Cowen had been sidelined since having surgery in November to repair a torn labrum in his left hip. ... Michalek and D Marc-Andre Bergeron got into it with 3:42 left in the third - with the former receiving an extra two minutes for elbowing. Staal took advantage of the power play and scored off a draw. … Ottawa was back in action after having its scheduled game on Monday postponed following the bombings at the Boston Marathon. The game will be made up on April 28.