Hurricanes 3, Panthers 2: Alexander Semin scored on his 29th birthday as visiting Carolina overcame the injury to Cam Ward to hold on and sweep Florida in a home-and-home series.

Ward made 15 saves in 28:56 time on ice before he was hurt as Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk and Panthers forward Jeff Skille crashed into the Carolina net. Ward initially remained in the net, but went down after the next faceoff and exited the contest.

Faulk and Jordan Staal also scored for Carolina, which skated to a 6-2 victory over Florida 6-2 on Saturday. Dan Ellis stopped 19 shots in relief of Ward, surrendering two goals to Panthers rookie Jonathan Huberdeau.

Faulk and Semin scored goals exactly one minute apart late in the first period. Staal made it 3-0 at 6:10 into the second when Jeff Skinner found him in front of the net and his shot slipped under the pad of Scott Clemmensen, who finished with 21 saves.

Huberdeau got Florida on the board with 3:55 remaining in the second when he charged toward the net and tipped Peter Mueller’s centering pass around Ellis. With Clemmensen pulled for the extra attacker late in the third, Huberdeau tapped in another perfect feed from Mueller on the doorstep for his 10th goal of the season as the Panthers outshot Carolina 15-2 in the final 20 minutes.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Florida lost in regulation for the first time this season in games when Huberdeau records a point. The Panthers are 4-1-3 in those contests. … Hurricanes captain Eric Staal assisted on Semin’s goal and has 599 career points. … Ward, who was credited with the victory, won for the fourth time in his last five starts and was on track for his first shutout of the season when he was injured.