Raleigh, NC (Sports Network) - Dainius Zubrus scored twice as the New Jersey Devils continued their surge with a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at RBC Center.
Henrik Tallinder and Brian Rolston also scored while Patrik Elias had three assists for the Devils, who have won their past seven games and are 15-1-2 since dropping four straight in early January.
Johan Hedberg tied a career-high with his sixth straight win as New Jersey beat Carolina for a third time since February 8. The Devils are now only 10 points behind the Hurricanes for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth.
The Devils scored three times in the first period to take command of the game.
The first goal came just 1:14 in as a low shot from the right point by Mark Fayne saw the puck tipped in by Zubrus for his 12th goal of the year.
About 10 minutes later, New Jersey took a 2-0 lead as Ilya Kovalchuk skated the puck in a circle in the Carolina end and from down low he dished the puck back to the left point for Tallinder, who one-timed the puck home.
Five minutes after that, it was a 3-0 game when Anton Volchenkov blasted a shot from the right point that saw Rolston slam home the rebound for his 10th goal of the season.
Hedberg stopped eight shots in each of the first two periods to keep Carolina off the board.
Carolina got on the board 6:49 into the third when Jamie McBain sent a wrist shot on net from the right point that hit off of Dwyer to make it a two-goal game.
Zubrus, though, got the goal back five minutes later when he beat Ward to the short side with a wrister from the right circle.
New Jersey continues its four-game road trip in Dallas on Tuesday...Carolina hosts the Rangers on Tuesday...New Jersey took three of four from Carolina for the second straight season.