The Carolina Hurricanes gained some breathing room in the NHL Southeast Division after a tense shootout win over the Florida Panthers.

Sergei Samsonov and Eric Staal scored in the shootout to lift the Hurricanes to a 2-1 victory over the Panthers and end their team record equalling seven-game winning streak.

The win moved the Hurricanes seven points ahead of the Washington Capitals with six games to play. The Panthers are eight points behind Carolina.

"I thought we really showed our colours tonight," Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said. "We came out the right way. We were resilient."

Trevor Letowski put the Hurricanes ahead with a first-period goal and Stephen Weiss got the equaliser for the Panthers 22 seconds into the third period.

Carolina netminder Cam Ward made 36 saves in regulation and overtime and had two more in the shootout.

The Hurricanes won for the 10th time in 13 games and continue to dominate their division, despite losing captain Rod Brind'Amour to a season-ending knee injury 15 games ago.

They also have been without second-highest scorer Ray Whitney since March 14 because of ankle surgery.

Staal has scored 35 goals and made 40 assists for the season.

Reuters