NHL: Carolina 5, Atlanta 4

ATLANTA, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Eric Staal produced a third-period hat trick Friday in rallying the Carolina Hurricanes past Atlanta 5-4.

Staal scored his three goals in a span of 4:31 and Cam Ward made 27 saves for his 12th win of the year.

The Hurricanes have earned at least a point in eight of their last 10 games.

Bryan Little had a hat trick for Atlanta, but the Thrashers lost for the sixth time in nine contests. Johan Hedberg allowed all five goals on 39 shots.

Carolina faced a 3-2 deficit going into the final period, but Staal tied it on a power-play goal 7:27 into the stanza.

Little's third goal, coming with 10:08 to play, gave Atlanta the lead back. But Staal tied it again with 9:18 remaining and he beat Hedberg again 1:16 later to give the Hurricanes the lead.

Both Staal and Little boosted their goal totals for the season to 17.

Atlanta center Marty Reasoner reached a milestone by playing in his 500th NHL game.