Wild 3, Hurricanes 1: Nino Niederreiter and Zach Parise scored first-period goals as Minnesota held on to remain undefeated in regulation at home in a costly game for both teams.

Josh Harding stopped 20-of-21 shots over two periods before leaving due to injury as the Wild improved to 4-0-2 at Xcel Energy Center. Niklas Backstrom turned aside all seven shots he faced in the third period in his first action since Oct. 8 and Dany Heatley added an empty-net, power-play goal.

Alexander Semin scored during a second-period power play for Carolina, which saw its three-game road winning streak come to an end. Cam Ward exited just 4:07 into the contest with a lower-body injury and is expected to miss three to four weeks. Justin Peters allowed two goals on 21 shots in relief.

Niederreiter flipped the puck over Peters’ glove during a power play 8:21 into the game to open the scoring. Parise doubled the lead 3:34 later by knocking in a rebound while driving to the net.

Semin blasted a one-timer between Harding’s pads at 6:01 of the second to halve the deficit. But Heatley hit the empty net with 25 seconds remaining in the third to seal the win.

GAME NOTEBOOK: With G Anton Khudobin already out, Carolina will be forced to go with Peters and Mike Murphy for the time being. … Minnesota finished 2-for-5 on the power play. Carolina went 1-for-5. … The Hurricanes fell to 0-2-3 against Western Conference opponents. They visit the Colorado Avalanche on Friday.