Ethan Moreau, top, mixes it up with Carolina Hurricanes' Tuomo Ruutu during the first period Saturday. (Karl B DeBlaker/Associated Press)

Ethan Moreau led the Edmonton Oilers past the host Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 on Saturday, breaking a deadlock with just over a minute left in the game.

Moreau had two goals in the third period, giving Edmonton its first win in six NHL contests.

The Oilers offence has struggled during the recent skid, scoring just five times in the span after a strong start that saw them net 13 goals in four wins.

"We were here to win and get two points and get ourselves back on track," Erik Cole said.

Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish blamed the losing streak on missed shots, which seemed likely to dash the Oilers' hopes again Saturday.

Moreau took a breakaway pass early in the first, but couldn't beat Carolina goalie Cam Ward. Ales Hemsky missed next, drilling a hard shot off the post halfway through the first period.

"We got some really fortunate goals," Moreau said. "We just had the philosophy that if we kept doing things right, we'd be successful. This has been a process. We've lost a few games we've played well in and finally tonight we got a win."

Carolina's Ray Whitney opened the scoring. He took a breakaway pass from defenceman Tim Gleason and slipped the puck through the pads of Dwayne Roloson to give the 'Canes the lead 6:35 into the first period.

It was the 17-year veteran's second goal of the year. Tuomo Ruutu also assisted on the marker.

Moreau penalized after fight

Ruutu slammed Edmonton's Denis Grebeshkov against the boards near the end of the first period, prompting Oilers captain Moreau to come off the bench and drop the gloves with Ruutu.

The fight ended with both players lying on the ice and Moreau with a 10-minute misconduct.

Shaun Horcoff finally found the back of the net in the second period for Edmonton, tying things up with an unassisted power-play goal.

Horcoff bounced a sharp-angle shot off Ward and into the net just inside the near post. The goal was Horcoff's fourth of the season.

Edmonton came within an inch of gaining the lead with 7:24 left in the third when Lubomir Vishnovsky hit the crossbar for another Oilers miss.

But Moreau managed to get the job done when he took a hard wrist shot from a bad angle to put his team ahead 2-1 with one minute and 18 seconds left in the game. The goal was Moreau's second of the year.

The Oilers had a close call at the other end of the ice with 43 seconds left. After a review, the referee decided Roloson managed to pull the puck away from the goal line to preserve the lead.

Moreau added a goal on an open Carolina net to pad the Oilers' lead, making the final score 3-1.

The Oilers opened a season-high seven-game road trip Thursday with a 3-1 loss to Nashville. They will face the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.

With files from the Associated Press