Hurricanes 4, Stars 1: Defenseman John-Michael Liles scored a goal and set up two others during a second-period blitz as host Carolina kept alive its faint playoff hopes.

Blue-liner Justin Faulk recorded a goal and an assist while captain Eric Staal and Riley Nash also scored as the Hurricanes improved to 3-0-2 in their last five to remain six points behind Columbus for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Anton Khudobin turned aside 33 shots as Carolina beat Dallas for the first time in five meetings.

Tyler Seguin netted his 34th goal for the Stars, who had their three-game winning streak snapped and remained tied with Phoenix for the second wild card in the West - although Dallas has a game in hand. Kari Lehtonen was pulled after allowing three goals on 16 shots and Tim Thomas made 15 saves in relief.

After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the Hurricanes pounced on the Stars with three goals in a span of 4:35 - the first coming when a shot from Liles hit the back of Staal's leg before popping high in the air and over an unsuspecting Lehtonen 2 1/2 minutes into the session. Faulk doubled the lead with a blast from the point before Liles made it two straight power-play tallies, connecting on a wrister from the top of the left faceoff circle.

Dallas slowed the spree 2 1/2 minutes later, when Valeri Nichushkin sent a lead pass to Seguin, who broke in and roofed a shot over Khudobin with 10:16 left in the period to cut the deficit to 3-1. Nash quelled any comeback hopes when he buried a rebound at 7:40 of the third.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Hurricanes LW Chris Terry, called up from the minors earlier this week, collected the first two assists of his career. ... Stars LW Ray Whitney suffered a lower-body injury early in the opening period and did not return, while Seguin received a 10-minute misconduct with 6:48 left in the contest. ... Hurricanes D Andrej Sekera was a late scratch with a lower-body injury while RW Alexander Semin (illness) and C Jiri Tlusty (lower body) each missed their second straight game.