WASHINGTON — With one deft swing of his stick, Mike Green atoned for a turnover that enabled lowly Carolina to forge a third-period tie with the Washington Capitals.

Green scored with 3:44 left in overtime, giving Washington a harrowing 4-3 win over the Hurricanes on Friday night.

Alexander Semin had two goals for the Capitals, who took their first lead on a goal by Tomas Fleischmann with 17:08 left in regulation. But Green later forked over the puck with Washington on the power play, and Carolina's Tim Gleason turned the miscue into a breakaway goal with 6:30 to go.

In overtime, however, Green slammed home a wrist shot from between the circles off a pass from Nicklas Backstrom.

The Capitals entered with the best record in the NHL and Carolina had the worst. But the Hurricanes converted two of their first three shots to take a 2-0 lead with 14 minutes elapsed.

Semin tied it by scoring twice in the second period, setting the stage for the dramatic third period.

Gleason had his face bloodied by a puck but stayed on the ice. He received 30 stitches afterward.

"That shows the type of player he is, the character he has, the toughness he brings to the team," teammate Eric Staal said. "It was a huge goal he had. It got us a point."

Staal and Jiri Tlusty scored for the Hurricanes, and Cam Ward made 36 saves. But Carolina still has one road win.

"We battled back to get that point," Staal said. "For us, right now, one point doesn't do much. It was tough to lose in overtime."

In rebounding from a 3-0 loss at Buffalo on Wednesday night, the Capitals outshot Carolina 37-16 during regulation and improved to 8-0-0 this season within the Southeast Division.

Cole, LaRose on IR

The Carolina Hurricanes began the week with 13 healthy forwards, but that number is dwindling.

The team said Friday that forwards Erik Cole and Chad LaRose would be placed on injured reserve. Cole is expected to miss two to three weeks with an upper-body injury and LaRose three to four weeks with a lower-body injury.

The Hurricanes recalled forwards Patrick Dwyer and Jiri Tlusty on Friday from the Albany River Rats (AHL). It was the first recall for Tlusty, who was obtained Dec. 3 in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the rights to forward Philippe Paradis, Carolina's first-round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Cole and LaRose both played Wednesday in the Canes' 3-2 road loss to the New Jersey Devils. Forward Sergei Samsonov, who missed the Devils game with a lower-body injury, also was held out of Friday's game.

CHIP ALEXANDER