BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A timely penalty kill and a snipe from rookie sensation Jack Eichel has the Buffalo Sabres back in the win column.

Eichel scored the game-winning goal to lead the Sabres to a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes Friday night. With the win, Buffalo (9-12-2) ended a six-game losing streak.

"It's nice to get a win here and get us back on track," Eichel said. "I think we can build off that and hopefully get going in the right direction."

The game turned on a series of events midway through the second period. With the Hurricanes dominating the flow of play, the Sabres penalty kill came up big to thwart the Hurricanes following an interference penalty on defenseman Zach Bogosian.

Seconds after the penalty expired, Eichel picked up the puck near center ice off a Carolina turnover and ripped a hard shot into the top left corner of the net. It was the eighth goal of the year for the second overall pick.

"That was the turning point in the game," Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. "They had the opportunity on the power play, we come up with a big kill and momentarily after that Jack intercepts the puck in the neutral zone, scores that goal for us. It's a big goal and I thought after that play, after that penalty kill, after that goal the game changed for us."

Buffalo took over from there. Defenseman Josh Gorges, right winger Brian Gionta and center David Legwand also scored and goalie Chad Johnson made 27 saves for Buffalo.

"A lot of times when you get a big kill where you don't give up momentum, you gain momentum yourself," Gorges said. "Come out of it, and Eichel scores a huge goal for us to give us the lead back. And then we started to settle in and just go out there and play."

Center Victor Rask scored the lone goal for Carolina (8-11-4).

"A couple bounces here and there," right winger Kris Versteeg said. "I thought we had actually a really good 40 minutes and for whatever reason it wasn't a great third."

Goalie Cam Ward was pulled by the Hurricanes after allowing three goals on 14 shots through two periods. He was replaced by Eddie Lack, who made 6 of 7 saves.

"There's good things early. They went away a little bit as the game went along," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "I didn't think we stayed with it and (we weren't) quite mentally tough enough."

Gorges opened the scoring 8:57 into the first period on a long shot from the left point. The defenseman's long shot skipped in front of the Carolina net and bounced in for his first goal of the season and his first as a Sabre.

"It's been a long time," Gorges said. "It wasn't much of a goal but I'll take it, and we needed to get the first goal tonight and play with the lead."

Rask evened the score 4:59 into the second period on a rebound opportunity. After Hurricanes center Elias Lindholm forced a poor giveaway by Gionta, center Eric Staal's initial shot was blocked but Rask buried the rebound for his team-leading seventh goal of the year.

Eichel made it 2-1 with his unassisted goal at 12:24.

Gionta made it 3-1 with 22.5 seconds left in the second with a strong deflection from the slot. With the Sabres racing up the ice, left winger Matt Moulson fired a hard pass to Gionta and the right winger redirected the puck to the short side of the net.

Legwand increased Buffalo's lead to 4-1 6:36 into the third. With left winger Jamie McGinn stationed behind the net, McGinn found Legwand in the slot for his second goal in the past three games.

"It was nice we got rewarded," Gionta said. "It definitely wasn't our best game, for sure. But we found a way to win. We've got to take the positives out of that."

NOTES: Sabres LW Johan Larsson and D Mike Weber were scratched. After impressing at times last year, Larsson has struggled this season. The 23-year-old forward has just three points (no goals, three assists) in 21 games. Weber is nearing a return to the lineup after undergoing minor knee surgery, Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. Weber has been out since Nov. 7. ... Hurricanes D Michal Jordan was scratched. ... This was the first of three meetings between the teams this season. The next games takes place March 12, in Buffalo.