Down two goals in the third period, the Canes used goals from Oleg Tverdovsky and Erik Cole to send the game to overtime before taking the two points from the Philadelphia Flyers in a shootout on Rod Brind'Amour's game-winner.

The final score was 4-3, but that's the only time the Canes were on top Tuesday. Either way, they're not complaining about the points, no matter how they get them.

"You can tell we play better when we get behind," Carolina forward Ray Whitney said. "I don't know why. Maybe we lose our inhibitions and just go. The faster we play, the better we play. When we play slowly, we're no good."

Not only did they extend their winning streak to eight games, one short of the franchise record they set earlier this season, but they retook the NHL's overall lead with 66 points -- and against the toughest level of competition possible.

A Flyers win would have put them into a virtual tie with the Ottawa Senators for the lead -- the Senators have the edge in wins -- and their point for the shootout loss moved them into third place.

But it doesn't seem to matter who the Canes play. They're 17-3-0 against non-playoff teams, taking care of business, but 5-2-2 against the other four teams in the NHL's top five.

The Hurricanes haven't lost since the last time they saw the Flyers, a 4-3 overtime loss at the RBC Center on Dec. 29. This one didn't look headed for overtime, at least not midway through the third.

Held without a shot for the first 17-plus minutes of the first period, the Canes struggled for two periods to generate chances all game against a stingy, well-coached Philadelphia team playing its second home game in almost a month.

Coming into the game with a power-play goal in 14 straight games, the Flyers held the Canes scoreless on four opportunities.

Left out to dry on Philadelphia's first two goals, Martin Gerber was otherwise impeccable early, trapping a Simon Gagne breakaway under his right skate boot early in the game before forcing the NHL's third-leading scorer to shoot wide on another breakaway in the second period.

The Flyers got the puck past Gerber only 75 seconds into the game when Mike Knuble tipped a loose puck out of midair, but the goal was waved off when it was ruled Knuble's stick was above the crossbar.

With 12 minutes to play, the Flyers led 3-1 and had largely handled Carolina's increased third-period pressure.

But a Cole hit behind the net sent Kim Johnsson to the ice, leaving Tverdovsky open in front to put home an Eric Staal pass, and Frantisek Kaberle set Cole free on a breakaway with four minutes to play. Cole faked Antero Niittymaki to the ice, then flipped the puck over him on his backhand.

"We hit that third period, and we've got nothing to save it for," Cole said.

Twenty seconds later, Brind'Amour went into the penalty box for hooking and the Flyers went after the win. But even without their best penalty-killer, the Canes held Philadelphia to one shot and pushed through to overtime -- Bret Hedican remaining on the ice even after he was staggered by a collision behind the net.

"That was a huge kill," Brind'Amour said. "I don't know how much of a penalty it was, but any time you can kill a penalty in the late stages it's huge. That might have been the game right there."

If Brind'Amour appreciated the help, he showed it in the shootout. He went out as Carolina's fourth shooter with the score tied 2-2, skating out wide to his right before slipping a shot over Niittymaki's left leg. Gerber then stopped Jeff Carter to give the Canes the win.

On a team full of younger, perhaps speedier players, Brind'Amour may not have been an obvious choice, but the ex-Flyer was as effective as the result was fitting.

"It was just," Whitney said. "Roddie does so much for our team, playing the minutes he does in the situations he does."

As has been the case all season, when it came to securing the win the Canes had only to look as far as their captain -- even if they were never able to look to the scoreboard and see a lead.