RALEIGH, N.C. -- Losing a crucial game in overtime while trying to make a playoff push is one thing. Losing a teammate is quite another.

The Carolina Hurricanes faced both difficult situations Monday night in a 4-3 defeat against the Detroit Red Wings.

Andreas Athanasiou scored with 3:01 left in overtime, crashing into goaltender Eddie Lack on the play as Detroit played spoiler yet again.

Lack was injured on the game-winning goal by Athanasiou, his 18th of the season, as the center raced down the right wing on a partial breakaway before cutting in on the goal as he was checked from behind.

Lack, who missed two major portions of the season with concussions, was attended to for more than 15 minutes while he was down on the ice as both teams and the crowd watched in silence. He was carried off the ice on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

The team later released a statement that said the goalie was undergoing testing but he had full feeling in his extremities.

"I did see it," Carolina coach Bill Peters said when asked about the replay. "(Athanasiou) obviously went into the net hard, and there was a little shot to the head there at the end of the play and that's where the problem lies right now."

"I had a tight angle there, so I just tried to drive the net and I'm fortunate it worked out," said Athanasiou, who also scored the game-winner Sunday against Minnesota. "You never want to see a player go down like that and go on a stretcher. I hope he's OK. I had no idea I hit him.

"I tried driving the net and I felt a stick on my back. (Victor Rask) hit me pretty hard. I just tried to put the puck in the net. Even after I had no idea I came in contact with (Lack). I spoke to the ref after, and he said after the contact from (Rask) I must have ran into him."

Carolina (33-27-14) did extend its point streak to 11 (7-0-4) to move within four points of Boston for the final Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot with eight games left. The Hurricanes, who have missed the postseason seven straight years, also have a game in hand on the Bruins.

Carolina's point streak is its best since a 12-game stretch in October and November by the 2006 Stanley Cup champion team. Meanwhile, Jeff Skinner extended his goal streak to six straight games and now has 11 goals since March 9 with his 31st of the season.

"We're not going to try to regroup, we are going to regroup," Peters said. "We're going to come back with the right answer tomorrow, but right now everyone is thinking about their teammate and that's where our thoughts are. We'll come in tomorrow and know more about that situation and then we'll refocus on hockey."

Tomas Tatar's team-leading 23rd goal of the season on the power play with 11:30 left gave Detroit a 3-2 lead. It appeared the goal would hold up, but Justin Faulk's wrist shot with Lack pulled for the extra attacker with 52 seconds left in regulation -- his second goal of the game -- sent the game into overtime.

"It's a great point," Peters said. "There is not a guy in this room with two minutes left that thought we were going to tie that up, so to get a point out of that is huge."

Detroit (31-32-12) improved to 5-1-1 in its last seven with the victory.

This was a makeup game from an originally scheduled Dec. 19 meeting between the teams that was postponed because of poor ice conditions at PNC Arena.

The Red Wings will remain in town and play the Hurricanes again Tuesday night, making it an unusual three games in three days for Detroit, which is in last place in the Atlantic Division and on the brink of missing the playoffs for the first time in a quarter century.

The Red Wings erased Carolina's 1-0 lead midway through the second period in a span of 1:10 as Anthony Mantha scored his 16th and 17th of the season on two breakaways after two costly Carolina turnovers.

However, Faulk's 15th goal of the season with 57.5 seconds left in the period sent Carolina to the locker room tied 2-2.

Skinner extended his point streak to seven straight games when he scored 5:15 into the first period.

NOTES: Carolina LW Jeff Skinner has 15 points since March 5. ... Skinner's 174th goal tied Rod Brind'Amour for third on the Hurricanes' franchise list. ... Carolina has assigned RW Valentin Zykov, who has missed the last games with an upper-body injury, to AHL Charlotte. ... Detroit D Niklas Kronwall sat out with a leg injury. ... Undrafted free agent D Daniel Renouf made his NHL debut for the Red Wings. ... Detroit C Luke Glendening went down in the first period with the lower-body injury and did not return.