RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Teuvo Teravainen had a goal and two assists and the Carolina Hurricanes kept pace in the playoff race with a 5-1 win over the Wild.
Jordan Staal, Brett Pesce, Andrei Svechnikov and Lucas Wallmark also scored for Carolina, which picked up its fifth win in seven games to keep its hold on the Eastern Conference's first wild-card spot. Petr Mrazek stopped 24 shots.
Eric Staal scored and Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves for the Wild, who dropped out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with the loss and Colorado's 4-2 win over Chicago. Minnesota played without leading scorer Zach Parise after he took a high stick to the face against Washington on Friday.
With the Wild lacking their primary scoring threat, the Hurricanes outshot Minnesota 34-25 and controlled the tempo from the outset.
"There were some unforced errors," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said, "and if we want to have any hope, we can't have unforced errors at this point in the season."
The first period was scoreless only because Dubnyk kept it that way, making a string of highlight-reel saves-including stopping Svechnikov on a breakaway-to keep Carolina off the board.
But the Hurricanes finally broke through 3:06 into the second when Justin Faulk's shot from the point hit Jordan Staal's skate in front of the net and redirected through Dubnyk's legs, and the floodgates opened.
Just over two minutes later, following a Wild turnover at center ice, Justin Williams fed Pesce at the top of the left faceoff circle and Pesce finished with a wrister past Dubnyk's glove into the upper-left corner to make it 2-0.
Eric Staal got Minnesota on the board with a power-play goal midway through the second after Micheal Ferland received a double-minor for high-sticking, but Carolina put it away with three third-period goals.
Svechnikov took a nifty backhand pass from Teravainen in the slot and buried it in the opening minutes of the third to make it a two-goal game again, and Wallmark finished a one-timer from Ferland with 10:51 remaining to all but wrap up the victory.
Teravainen added the final punch when he intercepted a pass at the Minnesota blue line and beat Dubnyk with a backhander on a breakaway.
The Hurricanes' third-period outburst stood in stark contrast to their previous game, when they had a one-goal lead against Nashville entering the third period and surrendered four unanswered goals.
"That was the way to play in the third," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "They were grinding. They're in playoff mode."
NOTES: Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek (lower-body injury) missed his sixth straight game. He is day to day. ... The Wild have won just three of their past 11 games.
UP NEXT
The Wild host Nashville on Monday.