RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes were relieved after a scary incident a night earlier and then energized against an opponent that appeared fatigued.

It was the ideal recipe to keep some momentum.

The Hurricanes jumped on the Detroit Red Wings early and Cam Ward finished with 21 saves in a 4-1 victory Tuesday night at PNC Arena.

"Detroit was probably a little bit tired," Ward said. "(When) you have a team play three in three (days), you try to take advantage."

Lee Stempniak, Joakim Nordstrom, Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm scored as the Hurricanes stretched their points streak to 12 games. Justin Faulk registered two assists.

Detroit's Tomas Nosek prevented a shutout with 6:27 remaining, scoring his first NHL goal.

The Hurricanes are 8-0-4 in their last dozen games, avenging an overtime setback from a night earlier in the same building and maintaining their late-season push to make the playoffs.

That game 24 hours earlier ended with Carolina goalie Eddie Lack leaving the ice on a stretcher, but he was at the arena for the rematch.

"What a relief it was," Ward said. "To see him here this morning, that definitely gave us a boost to know that he's OK and we can focus on the game at hand."

Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard made 28 saves. He had won in his previous three outings.

Detroit was playing its third game in as many days, a schedule necessitated by a December postponement in Raleigh.

"Playing a lot of hockey in a short amount of time," said Carolina coach Bill Peters, whose team played three games in four nights. "It was a war of attrition."

The Red Wings appeared out of energy, though they recorded 12 of their 22 shots in the third period. Carolina held an 11-4 edge in first-period shots and the Detroit didn't register a second-period shot until more than 4 1/2 minutes had expired. Shortly after, the Red Wings nearly went an entire power play without posting a shot.

"It takes a lot to keep coming back (with this schedule)," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "We needed to create a little more offense and create more shot opportunities. But I thought we kept fighting."

Stempniak scored on Carolina's second shot of the game, coming 10:10 into the first period. His shot went through traffic.

Nordstrom, who was playing in his 200th NHL game, made it 2-0 about five minutes later when he scored off a rebound of Brett Pesce's shot.

Staal's goal came with 6:24 remaining in the second period for his first point in four games.

A night earlier, the game ended with a Detroit overtime goal on a sequence that left Lack flattened in the net.

Lack was taken off the ice on a stretcher after the collision with Detroit center Andreas Athanasiou, who scored the winning goal. Lack was taken to an area hospital but was sent home a few hours later.

"I think we all had a sigh of relief that he was all right," Stempniak said.

Lack was back with the team Tuesday morning after being diagnosed with a neck strain. He was fine during a between-periods television interview, though a timetable for his potential return remains unclear.

Athanasiou, who scored overtime winners the previous two nights, wasn't in Detroit's lineup because of an upper-body ailment.

Nosek was in his fifth game of the season and 11th of his career.

"He finds a way to be in the right spot," Blashill said. "He has a lot of hockey smarts."

NOTES: Carolina LW Jeff Skinner had his seven-game points streak end. ... Detroit had matched its season high by playing in four consecutive games that extended to at least overtime. The other four-game stretch came in January. ... Red Wings C Luke Glendening sat out with a lower-body injury. Detroit called up C Ben Street and put him in the lineup. ... In his first game in two weeks, D Matt Tennyson notched an assist on Carolina's third goal. ... The Hurricanes called up G Alex Nedeljkovic on an emergency basis from the Florida Everblades of the ECHL. He played in one previous game with Carolina this season with his NHL debut in January. ... The Red Wings completed their three-game road swing Thursday night at Tampa Bay. ... The Hurricanes have two more home games this week, with Thursday night's visit from Tampa Bay.