RALEIGH, N.C. -- The youthful Carolina Hurricanes don't seem to be going away anytime soon in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

One day after losing a tough one-goal game at Ottawa, the Hurricanes rebounded in resounding fashion Friday night, getting two third-period goals from left winger Jeff Skinner en route to a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks -- the hottest team in the Western Conference.

Playing without injured All-Star Justin Faulk and getting big-time minutes from three rookie defensemen, the Hurricanes, with an average age of just 26.6, limited one of the NHL's top scoring teams to 24 shots as goalie Cam Ward has now gone 10 straight starts without a regulation loss.

"You always want to get better as a coach, but if you look at our team every month we have gotten better," said Carolina coach Bill Peters. "We want to continue to take steps. We're young so we should be getting better; we shouldn't be hitting a ceiling. We need to continue to push ourselves hard to get better."

Ward, returning to the lineup after missing two games with a lower-body injury, improved to 6-0-4 in his last 10 games as the Hurricanes (27-22-10) moved within two points of a playoff spot with 23 games remaining.

Meanwhile, the red-hot Sharks (31-21-5) -- the second-best road team in the NHL with 20 wins -- lost in regulation for just the third time in their last 19 games dating to Jan. 9.

Skinner, the seventh overall pick in the 2010 draft and former Calder Trophy winner as the league's rookie of the year, now has a team-leading 21 goals and at least 20 in four of his six NHL seasons.

"Whenever you get a chance to bear down and fight through some adversity I think it's a good testament to the character in the room, and all four of our lines were going for all 60 minutes," Skinner said in reference to a quick turnaround game following a 2:30 a.m. arrival in town from Ottawa. "When we work like that it makes everything so much easier."

Carolina captain Eric Staal, in a massive offensive slump, set up Skinner's first score for his first point in eight games. The goal was initially disallowed but then overturned on a coaching challenge from Peters.

"I don't know my record on challenges but I felt it was something that needed to be done and it was a big turning point in the game," Peters said. "That goal gave us some breathing room and our guys are a lot more comfortable in these one-goal games than we were a month ago, two months ago, six months ago, a year ago, so there are signs of progress and that's exciting."

San Jose closed to 3-2 with 9:22 left when Ward misplayed the puck behind his net, setting up a tap-in for center Tomas Hertl's 12th goal of the season before Skinner iced it on a rebound goal with 4:28 remaining. Skinner's seven game-winning goals are tied for third in the league.

"They kind of took the game over and we didn't have an answer," said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. "We pretty much got what we deserved."

San Jose captain Joe Pavelski went a step further, calling it the team's worst game of the season.

"He's not along on that bus," DeBoer said. "We've been consistently good for a long time and you're going to have those once in a while. It's how you respond to it. We just have to throw it away and get ready for the next one."

Carolina took a 2-1 lead into the third period after left winger Joakim Nordstrom scored his sixth goal of the season with 7:35 left in a second period in which the Hurricanes outshot the Sharks 19-4.

Center Jordan Staal produced his team-leading 22nd assist by setting up Nordstrom, who has nine points in the last 11 games. Staal added an empty-net goal with 2:25 left.

Carolina's fourth line struck first seven minutes in as left winger Chris Terry deflected a shot from the high slot past a screened Jones for his fifth goal of the season.

Seven minutes later, the Sharks took advantage of Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin falling down on the rush as Brent Burns beat Ward with a shot against the grain as he trailed the play. Burns leads NHL defenseman with 19 goals despite scoring for the first time since Jan. 11.

NOTES: With the trade deadline approaching, eight teams were scouting this game. ... D Justin Faulk missed his fifth straight game with a lower-body injury. He is listed as day to day and could suit up Sunday against Tampa Bay. ... Since Jan. 1, the Hurricanes rank third in the NHL (88 percent) on the penalty kill. ... San Jose is nearing the end of a stretch in which nine of 11 games have been on the road. ... San Jose LW Patrick Marleau played in his 504th straight game. He is one of only 22 players in NHL history to log more than 500 consecutive games.