Devils 5, Hurricanes 4: Tuomo Ruutu scored the go-ahead goal against his former team with 6 1/2 minutes remaining in the third period and Adam Henrique extended his goal-scoring streak to six games with his second straight two-tally performance as host New Jersey continued its quest for a playoff spot.

Travis Zajac recorded a goal and two assists while Damien Brunner also scored for the Devils, who climbed within two points of idle Detroit for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Ruutu added an assist, defenseman Marek Zidlicky notched two and Martin Brodeur stopped 29 shots.

Alexander Semin scored a goal and set up another while Jeff Skinner, blue-liner Jay Harrison and Nathan Gerbe also tallied for the Hurricanes, who have lost seven of eight. Cam Ward was saddled with the hard-luck loss after allowing just one goal on nine shots in relief of Anton Khudobin, who was pulled after yielding four tallies on 22 shots.

Brunner converted a power-play opportunity 8:34 into the second period to snap a 1-1 tie and Henrique lifted a backhander past Khudobin on a short breakaway 23 seconds later before chasing the Kazakhstanian goaltender less than four minutes afterward with a shot from the top of the slot while short-handed. Carolina began its comeback on the same power play as Harrison fired the puck inside the left post with 6:36 left in the session.

Gerbe put a backhander under the crossbar on a short-handed breakaway 4:41 into the third and Semin beat Brodeur from the high slot with 7:21 remaining after weaving his way through several defenders. But New Jersey reclaimed the lead 51 seconds later as Ruutu wristed a shot past Ward from the top of the slot for his first goal as a Devil.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Devils have scored at least four goals in consecutive games for the first time this season. ... Devils RW Jaromir Jagr registered his 1,042nd career assist, putting him seven behind Gordie Howe for eighth place on the all-time list. The veteran Czech also climbed within 12 points of Steve Yzerman (1,755) for sixth in NHL history. ... Henrique has scored twice in three of the six games during his streak. ... Carolina has allowed a short-handed goal in five of its last six contests.