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Final Score: Washington 3 - Carolina 4

Raleigh, NC (Sports Network) - Ray Whitney scored the game-winning goal with just under a minute left in overtime to propel the Carolina Hurricanes past the Washington Capitals, 4-3, at RBC Center.

Eric Staal had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who snapped a two-game skid and sit eight points behind Boston for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. The Bruins lost 3-0 to the Penguins on Thursday.

Brett Carson and Chad LaRose also scored for Carolina, which got 25 saves from Justin Peters.

"We played really well tonight. Didn't give them a lot of grade A chances, a couple big blocks, good rebounds, and able to come through at the end was pretty special," Peters said.

Joe Corvo scored twice for the Capitals, who had a two-game winning streak snapped but are still the top team in the East by a comfortable margin.

Eric Fehr also lit the lamp for Washington, which got 25 saves from Semyon Varlamov and went 1-0-1 during the two-game suspension of Alex Ovechkin.

Late in the extra session, Whitney controlled the puck along the left boards. He slowly moved into the slot before firing a shot that snuck past Varlamov.

Down 2-1 in the third, Carson lit the lamp at the 12:44 mark to tie things up. Joni Pitkanen gathered the puck along the goal line and slid a pass in front that ended up going through traffic and bouncing off the boards. Carson was there at the right point for the slapper.

Carolina then went ahead 3-2 on LaRose's goal with 1:35 remaining. Jussi Jokinen fed LaRose with a perfect pass to set him up on a breakaway, and he tallied with a backhander.

Washington pulled Varlamov for an extra attacker, and with 9.5 seconds left, Fehr gathered the disc in the slot following a broken play and beat Peters to send the contest into overtime.

Washington forward Mike Knuble had a goal called off with 1:43 left in the first period due to the puck being hit with a high stick.

The Capitals, though, were able to get on the board just 30 seconds into the second on Corvo's snap shot from the slot.

A bench minor negated a Caps goal at 3:15 of the second period, then Shaone Morrisonn got a double-minor for high-sticking to put Carolina on a 5-on-3 power play 18 seconds later.

The Hurricanes capitalized when Staal lit the lamp at the 4:36 mark. Jokinen gathered the disc at the top of the right circle and slid a pass in front for Staal, who was there for the tap-in.

The Capitals went back in front on Corvo's power-play goal with 11.5 seconds remaining in the middle stanza. Nicklas Backstrom slid a pass to Corvo, whose snap shot from the slot beat Peters.