SUNRISE, Fla. -- Maybe it's too late for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Maybe they had too far to come and too many teams to climb over in an effort to make the playoffs.

If that turns out to be true, at least the Hurricanes are making it interesting, getting what proved to be the game-tying and game-winning goals from Jeff Skinner on Tuesday night in a 4-3 victory over the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center.

Carolina (31-27-13) is 5-0-3 in its past eight games and trails the Toronto Maple Leafs by six points in the battle for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Carolina has 11 games to not only catch Toronto, but also pass the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders.

On Tuesday, the Hurricanes fell behind three times and rallied each time, bailing out appreciative goalie Cam Ward.

"The response by the guys was tremendous," said Ward, who made 33 saves. "It was a gutsy effort."

Skinner, who has 28 goals this season, went to the front of the net with 3:55 left in the third period, scoring off an excellent centering pass from Derek Ryan.

Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said Skinner deserved that goal.

"He went to the net hard and got rewarded," Peters said. "He's doing things right."

Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes.

Aho, third among NHL rookies this season with 21 goals, also added an assist, and his goal came short-handed. The Hurricanes have 10 short-handed goals this season, tied for the NHL lead with the Nashville Predators.

The Panthers got goals from Aleksander Barkov, Reilly Smith and Keith Yandle. It was Barkov's 20th goal -- his second straight season reaching that milestone.

Jaromir Jagr and Jason Demers had two assists apiece for the Panthers, who got defenseman Aaron Ekblad back in the lineup after he missed four games because of a concussion.

Goalie Reto Berra made his debut as a Panthers starter and took the loss. Berra, who stopped 21 shots, said he was disappointed overall in his effort.

"In the beginning, I was fighting the puck a little bit," said Berra, a 30-year-old making his first NHL start since December 9, 2015, when he was playing for the Colorado Avalanche.

"I hadn't played for three weeks, and I hadn't played in this league this year. ... But as the game went on, I felt better."

Florida (31-30-11), which won three of its past 14 games (3-10-1), had to settle for a 2-2 tie after one period and a 3-3 deadlock after the second.

The Panthers needed only 1:35 to dent the scoreboard. Barkov scored on a deflection of a shot from Demers. But Carolina tied the score on a power-play goal by Teravainen, who pounced on a rebound.

Florida surged ahead on a rush. Vincent Trocheck started the play, feeding Jussi Jokinen on the left wing, and the puck was immediately swung around to the right, where Smith tapped it in.

Carolina tied the score 2-2 on Aho's short-handed goal. Elias Lindholm picked up a loose puck and raced down the ice before hitting his trailer, Aho, who had the puck slip off his stick but under Berra's blocker for the goal.

Florida see-sawed back in front with 1:14 expired in the second period. Yandle scored a soft goal on an apparent pass attempt from the left side.

Carolina tied the score 27 seconds later. Jaccob Slavin hit Lee Stempniak with a stretch pass, and Skinner cleaned up on the rebound.

The Hurricanes dominated on special teams. They went 1 for 1 on their power play, shut down Florida on its three man-advantage situations and also got the short-handed goal.

"Our defensive game wasn't there," Barkov said. "If they score four goals, there's a pretty good chance they are going to win the game. We need to play a better defensive game."

NOTES: Before beating Florida, Carolina was an NHL-worst 9-17-9 on the road this season. ... Florida rested G James Reimer, who started eight games in a row. ... Panthers C Denis Malgin (concussion) and G Roberto Luongo (lower-body injury) are still out. ... Healthy Panthers scratches were D Jakub Kindl and C Michael Sgarbossa. ... Panthers LW Shawn Thornton, 39, is expected to retire at the end of the season. It's possible he could get a job in the Panthers front office. ... It is not known if Panthers RW Jaromir Jagr, a free agent at the end of the season, will return for another season. Jagr is 45. ... Florida has six prospects playing in the NCAA hockey tournament. Only the Chicago Blackhawks, with seven, have more. ... Florida hosts the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday. ... Carolina C Jay McClement (lower body) and LW Valentin Zykov (upper body) are out. ... Carolina scratched D Matt Tennyson. ... Carolina plays at the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.