RALEIGH, N.C. -- Eddie Lack's season can best be described as tumultuous. The backup goalie for the Carolina Hurricanes missed two large portions of the season with a concussion, and when he returned in early February his play wasn't up to par, prompting some colorful criticism from coach Bill Peters.

Lack looked like a new man Thursday night, stopping 31 shots as the Hurricanes defeated the slumping Minnesota Wild 3-1 with Victor Rask scoring the game-winner with 3:24 left.

Lack, who has won just four games this season as Cam Ward's backup, made a series of saves less than two minutes before the Rask goal to keep the score tied at 1.

"I saw the puck well. It wasn't always pretty or technical, but I battled and it's two huge points for us," Lack said.

"It has been a tough season for him," added Carolina center Elias Lindholm. "Being out for so long and coming back and being out again, it's real fun to see him play this well. He saved us more than a couple of times today. All credit to Eddie. He had an amazing game."

Early in the game, Lack stopped former Carolina captain Eric Staal on a two-on-one, making a nice blocker save that helped get him into a rhythm.

"I actually was talking with Jordan (Staal) before the game and asked if Eric was coming in on me if we would go high blocker, so I was a little bit prepared for it," Lack said. "It was a good save and it got me going."

Lack has played in consecutive games just three times all season, but Peters indicated his backup just might get another start against Nashville on Saturday night.

"He sure deserves it," Peters said when asked if he would go back to Lack and not Ward. "I don't know who can screw that decision up."

Rask darted out of the corner and made a beeline to the net to stuff the game-winner past Devan Dubnyk, who was gunning for his 37th victory of the season. Lindholm assisted on Rask's 16th of the season to extend his point streak to five straight games.

"Victor made a strong move to the net, which as very nice to see," Peters said.

Carolina (29-27-12) improved to 6-1-2 all time at home against Minnesota (43-20-6), which dropped its season-worst third in a row in regulation. In addition, Lack, playing in only his 13th game all season, improved to 3-0-1 in his career against the Wild.

"Eddie was solid, it might have been (his best game) for sure," Peters said. "I just know he was big and square and out challenging and looked confident."

Teuvo Teravainen scored an empty-net goal with 1:26 remaining as Carolina improved to 3-0-2 in its last five games.

The Wild, battling Chicago and San Jose for the best record in the Western Conference in coach Bruce Boudreau's 750th career game, fell to 2-6-0 in their last eight, ending a five-game road trip on a downer by losing four of five.

"I've seen our team play great so why wouldn't I think that we're going to fight our way out of it?" Boudreau said. "It doesn't make any sense to think they wouldn't from what I've seen, from the body of work."

Special teams came into play on each of the team's first-period goals.

Carolina's Derek Ryan scored his 11th goal on the power play at 4:37 on a rebound, but the Hurricanes allowed the equalizer on a short-handed goal eight minutes later as Mikael Granlund notched his team-leading 24th on a nice give-and-go with Mikko Koivu.

NOTES: Minnesota C Martin Hanzal missed his third straight game with an illness. ... The Hurricanes signed 19-year-old G Callum Booth, who ranks first in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in wins (31) and save percentage (.911). ... Wild C Eric Staal, who played his first 11-plus seasons with Carolina, is two games shy of 1,000 for his career. ... Minnesota allowed four goals in each of its previous four road games. ... Wild D Ryan Suter played in his 900th career game.