Hurricanes 3, Jets 2: Captain Eric Staal, Jordan Staal and Riley Nash scored in a span of less than three minutes midway through the second period and visiting Carolina held on to edge Winnipeg.

Defenseman Andrej Sekera notched a pair of assists for the Hurricanes, who climbed within eight points of Detroit for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Cam Ward turned aside 34 shots as Carolina completed a 2-1-0 road trip.

Jim Slater and Bryan Little tallied for the Jets, who remained six points behind Phoenix for the second wild card in the West. Al Montoya finished with 29 saves in his fourth consecutive start.

Winnipeg opened the scoring at 7:48 of the second period as Slater redirected defenseman Mark Stuart's shot from high along the left-wing boards past Ward. The lead lasted only 37 seconds as Eric Staal buried a loose puck in the slot after Montoya failed to stop it behind the net, snapping his 11-game goal-scoring drought.

Jordan Staal beat Montoya to the stick side on a short breakaway during a power play 1:45 later and Nash banked his second attempt from near the right post off the goaltender's leg and in 68 seconds afterward for a 3-1 advantage. Little converted a feed from Michael Frolik 1:27 into the third, but the Jets were unable to net the equalizer.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ward made a sensational stick save in the first period, knocking the puck away while diving to his right as Little lifted it toward an open net from the left side. ... Winnipeg appeared to tie the game with 12:31 remaining in the third, but Stuart's goal immediately was waved off as the referee ruled Jets D Dustin Byfuglien made incidental contact with Ward, preventing the netminder from making the save. ... Winnipeg has not posted consecutive wins since Feb. 27-March 1. ... Slater returned to the lineup after missing two games with a lower-body injury while Byfuglien (lower body) and D Zach Bogosian (upper body) were back following one-game absences.