RALEIGH, N.C. -- Left winger Jeff Skinner realized that he would have only one chance when he charged onto the ice in the waning seconds of the third period Tuesday night.

He made it count with a tying goal and then teammate Jaccob Slavin's first opportunity in a shootout as a professional player was a positive experience, giving the Carolina Hurricanes a 4-3 victory against the Ottawa Senators at PNC Arena.

"When I jumped on, I thought there was about 12 seconds," Skinner said. "From there, I just try to get in the play. I had a pretty good feeling that was the last chance I'm going to have."

Skinner converted with .03 remaining, allowing the Hurricanes to extend the game with a truly last-second goal.

As unexpected as that might have been, it might have been more surprising that Slavin, a rookie defenseman, was given the nod for the fourth round of the shootout.

"I wasn't expecting it," Slavin said. "But when you get the tap, you have an idea of what you're going to do."

Slavin beat Ottawa goalie Andrew Hammond with the shot, sending the Hurricanes to the victory. It was their first shootout victory after failing three times earlier this season.

"I think I kind of blacked out there when I picked up the puck," Slavin said of the surreal scene.

Carolina coach Bill Peters said Slavin earned that opportunity.

"He has done it a lot in practice," Peters said. "He looked very comfortable out there."

The Hurricanes weren't less than a second from defeat, so they were almost giddy with this outcome.

"I knew there wasn't much time," Skinner said. "Again, the right spot, I guess. I just tried to get it through."

The Senators were stunned by the change of fortunes.

"We had a couple looks at the empty net, but no luck," Ottawa coach Dave Cameron said. "It's just a desperation play from them. It hit the shin pad and went into the net. Everyone was jamming for it."

Ottawa's Mika Zibanejad and Carolina's Riley Nash converted in the first portion of the shootout. Nash was the third Carolina shooter in a must-score situation to extend the session.

Skinner's second goal of the game came after the Hurricanes had skated with an empty net for nearly two minutes to end the third period.

The Senators struck near the end of two periods for goals. Zack Smith's short-handed goal in the final minute of the second period broke a 2-2 tie.

Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel scored first-period goals for Ottawa. Hammond stopped 34 shots.

The Senators (31-29-8) scored in the final minute of each of the first two periods, but they've won only once in their last five games.

"It was a game of swings," Cameron said. "I thought we were real good the first period."

Skinner and Jay McClement, who converted a short-handed goal, scored in the second period for the Hurricanes (30-26-11), who won for the second time in their last six games (2-3-1).

Goalie Cam Ward made 21 saves. He stopped Smith on the final attempt of the shootout.

The teams entered the game with 69 points apiece, meaning both clubs are on the outer fringe of playoff contenders in the Eastern Conference.

The Hurricanes came back from a two-goal deficit, but the Senators reclaimed the lead at 3-2 with 35 seconds left in the second period.

Smith had the go-ahead goal by sending the puck between Ward's pads.

Ottawa had its way earlier. Stone's first goal in six games opened the scoring less than eight minutes in.

Ottawa center Scott Gomez assisted on the first goal, giving him his first point since joining the Senators as a free agent March 2. He has played in four games with his new team.

The Senators scored their second goal with 26 seconds left in the first period. It came when Dzingel had a clear path to push the puck past Ward on the backside.

"Credit to the guys for staying with it," Peters said.

Skinner had the Hurricanes on the board just 1:48 into the second period. His team-leading 24th goal came when he collected the rebound after an initial shot went off the boards and the Senators were caught unaware of the direction of the puck.

McClement, who hadn't played in the four previous games because of an upper-body injury, notched his unassisted goal when he beat Ottawa center Mike Zibanejad to the puck and then got the puck past Hammond, who appeared in solid position to cut off McClement's angle.

NOTES: LW Brendan Woods made his NHL season debut for the Hurricanes. It was his third career game in the league. ... The Hurricanes announced before the game the signing of F Andrew Poturalski, a college player out of New Hampshire. He's assigned to Charlotte of the American Hockey League. ... G Craig Anderson is on the trip with the Senators, but he sat out his fourth game in a row with an injury. ... The Senators stay on the road for Thursday's game at Florida. ... This was Carolina's only home game across 22 days, with a five-game road swing beginning with Thursday night's game at Boston.