NEW YORK -- After a season-long three-game losing streak, the New York Rangers weren't going to be overly critical of their victory Monday.

After jumping to a three-goal advantage, the Rangers survived a late push from the Carolina Hurricanes to emerge with a 4-3 victory at Madison Square Garden.

All season, the Rangers (17-6-2) have found ways to win despite being outplayed in most games. That was again the case against the Hurricanes, who outshot and out-chanced the Rangers for 60 minutes but were sabotaged by a pair of poor goals allowed by goaltender Cam Ward.

The Rangers weren't beating themselves up too badly, but they did have some concerns about their overall game Monday.

"It's definitely a step in the right direction," said Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped 33 shots. "The big thing here was just finding a way to win this game."

First-period power-play goals by right winger Mats Zuccarello and rookie center Oscar Lindberg gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead and enough margin for error that any late-game hiccups wouldn't matter. With defenseman Kevin Klein unavailable after pulling a muscle midway through the first period, the Rangers needed every bit of that cushion.

Center Jordan Staal took advantage of a Rangers defensive breakdown early in the second period to cut the lead to 2-1, but a pair of gaffes by Ward put the Hurricanes in too deep of a hole.

Left winger Chris Kreider caught Ward asleep 44 seconds after Staal's goal to extend the lead to 3-1. Kreider smacked the puck toward the net from a bad angle and an unprepared Ward watched the puck slide past him for a back-breaking goal.

With 4:51 left in the period, Ward attempted to pass the puck out of his zone only to hit Rangers center Kevin Hayes as he stepped out of the box. Hayes worked a 2-on-0 with center Derick Brassard, who one-timed a Hayes pass into a yawning net to make it 4-1.

Goals from center Victor Rask and left winger Chris Terry gave the Hurricanes (8-12-4) a chance in the third period, but they could not find a tying goal.

The Hurricanes finished November 3-6-4 despite finding themselves on the winning side of the puck possession battle on most nights.

"At this point, it's frustrating," Hurricanes left winger Eric Staal said. "We need to get wins. We need points. We are finding ways to let them slip away. We have to find a way to pick up wins and crawl our way back into the mix."

"We didn't have enough guys going tonight," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "We weren't good enough in a lot of areas. Too many mistakes."

The Rangers, meanwhile, didn't exactly feel all that great about themselves, either.

"It wasn't perfect out there, but at least we competed hard," Brassard said. "We lost a defenseman early. It was harder out there for our 'D' corps, but I thought they responded really well. It's going to be a process. It's not going to be perfect right away. We got the two points and that's what matters."

The Rangers had no update on the status of Klein, who could leave a big hole in the lineup this week. After a day off Tuesday, the Rangers play the New York Islanders and Colorado Avalanche on back-to-back nights Wednesday and Thursday.

Already missing center Derek Stepan, the Rangers could find themselves without two key players as they try to erase the mistakes that have been plaguing them all season.

"We'll take the two points whenever we can get them," Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "But we know there are still things we are continuing to work on. Hopefully this win gives some guys a bit of a boost."

NOTES: The Hurricanes were without LW Nathan Gerbe (ankle) and D James Wisniewski (knee). ... Hurricanes C Jordan Staal played in his 200th game with the team. He was acquired from the Penguins in a draft-day trade in June 2012 and signed a 10-year deal less than two weeks later. ... Rangers C Jayson Megna was recalled from the American Hockey League on Monday. He participated in pregame warmups but was not in the lineup. ... Rangers D Dylan McIlrath was a healthy scratch after playing in two straight games. D Dan Boyle, who sat the previous two games, returned to the lineup.