RALEIGH, N.C. -- Cory Stillman, Rod Brind'Amour and Scott Walker scored to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.

The Hurricanes are competing for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference without goalie Cam Ward, who injured his left knee Sunday. John Grahame made 26 saves in Ward's place.

Jozef Stumpel scored for the Panthers, who earned at least a point in nine of their previous 10 games.

Walker punched in a loose puck with 15.3 seconds left in the second period to break a 1-1 tie. It was Walker's 20th goal of the season and just the second power-play goal for Carolina in 43 opportunities.

Grahame held the lead with two point-blank saves on Olli Jokinen, Florida's leading scorer, with about 13 minutes to go the second period.

The Hurricanes, who began the night tied with the New York Rangers for the final playoff spot, took a 1-0 lead on Stillman's goal at 15:24 in the first period.

Erik Cole found Stillman in the slot but Florida goalie Ed Belfour stopped the first shot. Belfour couldn't control the rebound and Stillman knocked it in for his first goal since Jan. 26. Stillman missed seven games in February with a knee injury.

Florida tied it at 1 with Stumpel's unassisted goal at 11:21 in the second period. Stumpel walked around Carolina center Josef Vasicek and beat Grahame to the far post.

The Panthers then took three consecutive penalties at the end of the second period. They survived the first two, as Carolina's power-play continued to struggle.