RALEIGH, N.C. -- Ryan Getzlaf admits he's not much of a stats guy, but the Anaheim Duck captain was alerted he was closing in on the franchise's all-time assist record in a text from former teammate and record holder Teemu Selanne two weeks ago.

Getzlaf's 532nd assist with the Ducks likely won't be stored at the top of his memory bank, considering it occurred on an empty-net goal in a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. Still, the mark means something to Getzlaf because of the player he passed.

"Perfect, it was just perfect," Getzlaf said, laughing about his record-breaking assist. "It's an honor to pass a guy like Teemu. I don't know if it would have meant as much if he wasn't such a friend and a guy I learned so much from in my career."

"I'm sure the guy that he passed had a few (empty net assists) too," chuckled coach Randy Carlyle. "It's nice to see Ryan getting the accolades because he's very deserving. It's a feel-good story all the way around because we won the hockey game, too."

Jakob Silfverberg scored goals 3:07 apart in the middle of the second period and added two assists in his first four-point night since last March.

Silfverberg assisted on Ryan Kesler's fifth of the season 4:46 into the second as well as his empty-netter late as the Ducks (7-5-3) broke open a scoreless first period with three goals in a span of 7:50 in the second.

"We kept skating in this game and we caught them on their heels," Silfverberg said of the second-period offensive outburst.

The Ducks are starting to find their stride, going 3-0-1 over their last four games, having outscored opponents a combined 15-7.

Meanwhile, Carolina, a franchise that has missed the playoffs seven straight years, fell to 3-6-4 and is the only NHL team with just two regulation wins.

Kesler sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 26 seconds left on the Getzlaf's record assist.

"Our team is finding a way to play as a group and have different guys do different things so far this year, and tonight our checking line got on the board for us and carried us."

Silfverberg finished with four points. His first goal of the night came on an easy tap in after a shot from Cam Fowler bounced off the end boards and right to the right wing to the left of Carolina goalie Cam Ward.

Silfverberg worked hard for his fifth of the season 3:07 after his first score of the night, stealing the puck from Carolina's Brett Pesce at his own blue line, and then outmuscling the defenseman down the ice, finding the corner of the net as he was being checked and falling to the ice.

The Hurricanes broke through with 5:02 remaining in the period on a tip in by Teuvo Teravainen, who registered his third of the season.

Carolina cut the score to 3-2 when Victor Rask scored his fifth of the season off a centering pass from Jeff Skinner 3:15 into the third. It was Skinner's team-leading 13th point.

"They came with a pretty big charge," Carlyle said. "But our goaltender was there and he made some big stops for us and our penalty killing delivered it a critical situation when they had the power play at the end."

"We were pressing but you like to get that sense of urgency and push from the start of the game," Skinner said. "We just need to bear down a little bit more. There were too many one-and-done opportunities."

NOTES: Carolina All-Star D Justin Faulk is week to week with an upper-body injury he suffered Tuesday night in New Jersey. ... After playing 10 of their first 13 games on the road, the Hurricanes opened a five-game homestand against the Ducks. ... Former NHL goalie Michael Leighton is off to a hot start for the Hurricanes' AHL affiliate in Charlotte, where he is 5-0 with a 1.41 goals-against average. ... Anaheim LW Andrew Cogliano extended his consecutive games streak to 719, 18 shy of tying Jay Bouwmeester for fifth longest all time. Doug Jarvis logged 964 straight games from October 1975 to October 1987. Cogliano has never missed a game in his NHL career.