RALEIGH, N.C. -- The comforts of home sure made Jeff Skinner well.

Skinner scored twice, the Carolina Hurricanes didn't allow a third-period goal and they won their home opener by defeating the New York Rangers 3-2 on Friday night.

Skinner had missed the previous game with a mysterious "middle-body" injury, but he was in good form at PNC Arena.

"I felt good," Skinner said. "It's something you have to play through, I guess."

Left winger Bryan Bickell scored the go-ahead goal with less than a second remaining in the second period by redirecting Skinner's delivery. Skinner had an assist on the play and finished with three points.

Peters said Skinner's availability was in doubt, to a degree.

"He's a proud player and it's the home opener," Peters said. "I was about 99 percent sure he would be out there."

The Hurricanes (2-3-2) hadn't won a home opener since 2008.

"It's early, but it's urgent," Peters said.

Right winger Mats Zuccarello scored both goals for the Rangers (5-3-0), who had their three-game winning streak snapped.

"They played extremely well," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said of the Hurricanes. "We were confident in the third we could tie it up. There wasn't a lot of room in the third. For the most part, I liked the way we moved the puck."

Carolina goalie Cam Ward stopped 28 shots, including seven in the third period.

"He was dialed in and business-like," Peters said.

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist made 18 saves but suffered a rare loss to Carolina. He's 23-11-1 all-time against the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes led 3-2 entering the third period, going ahead on Bickell's first goal with the team on a power play with 0.8 of a second remaining in the second period. That came following New York's first penalty of the game.

That was the most disturbing part for the Rangers.

"That puck had eyes," Vigneault said. "We played real well in the second period. I thought after two periods we should have been in better shape."

Skinner had his second goal just 33 seconds into the second period, going in strong toward the net and converting a backhand shot. He scored on the only two shots he was credited with taking in the game.

Zuccarello's second goal came at 12:17 of the second period to tie the score at 2.

The Rangers outshot the Panthers 23-14 through two periods.

New York scored on Zuccarello's third goal of the season just 8:31 into the game. His wrister came as a pile developed in the crease, a scoring play that was confirmed after extensive video review.

Right winger Pavel Buchnevich, who was back after a five-game absence with an injury, picked up an assist on the first goal.

The Hurricanes managed only one shot on goal in the first 10 minutes

Skinner, who sat out Tuesday's game against the Red Wings in Detroit with an undisclosed injury, skated from the right side and found an opening before reaching the slot for his third goal of the season.

Center Victor Rask's assisted on Skinner's first goal, giving him at least one point in all seven games. That matched streak Keith Primeau's seven-game stretch in 1998 as the longest points streak to open a season with the Hurricanes.

Ryan McDonagh had another assist, so he became the first Rangers defenseman to produce a six-game assist streak since 2001.

Lundqvist also supplied an assist, so the Rangers became the first NHL team this season to have two goalies with points this season.

This was the Hurricanes' 19th home opener in North Carolina after the franchise relocated from Hartford, Conn., where it played its first 18 seasons.

NOTES: The Rangers put D Dylan McIlrath on waivers as he was considered their eighth defenseman. He passed through and was assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League. ... Rangers LW Josh Jooris missed the first game of what's expected to be up to a month-long absence with a shoulder injury. ... RW Pavel Buchnevich was back in the lineup for New York after a five-game absence with back spasms. ... LW Jeff Skinner returned to the Carolina lineup after missing a game with what was described as a middle-body injury. ... Six Carolina players appeared in their first Raleigh home game. ... This was the first of four meetings between the teams. ... The Rangers have a home game Sunday against Tampa Bay. The Hurricanes next play Sunday at home against the Philadelphia Flyers.