Following a rough start to the 2016-17 season, the Carolina Hurricanes have gotten things back on track. After dropping the first game of its five-game homestand to the Anaheim Ducks, the Canes won the next four for their first winning streak of the season. Carolina beat the Washington Capitals, San Jose Sharks, Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets to improve its record on the season to 7-6-4, currently three points out of a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. Here is what has allowed the Canes to play so well over the past week.

Cam Ward finds a groove- The biggest Achilles’ heel for the Canes over the slow start to the season, and really, the past couple seasons as a whole, has been goaltending. Over this winning streak, the Canes have finally been able to get a consistently strong performance in net from starter Cam Ward. The oft-criticized netminder has been outstanding over the last four games, and really over the month of November in general.

After an October to forget for the 2006 Conn-Smythe winner, Ward has gone 5-1-2 with a .944 save percentage and 1.59 goals against average in November, including a shutout over the Sharks in a game the Hurricanes won 1-0. Ward was named the NHL’s second star of the week for his efforts over the previous week Monday. While the defensive play in front of him has been better, the soft goals that have plagued Ward’s game the last several years have been nowhere to be found recently. He seems to be very relaxed in net, moving easily to track the puck and make saves, while also showing some quick reflexes to make sharp stops when necessary.

While Ward’s rebound control does still leave a bit to be desired, there seems to be a level of trust between the Alberta native and his defensemen that Ward will make the first save and the defenders will be there to clean up the rebound. If Ward can continue to play so well in net, he should continue to pile up wins for the Canes.

Improved defensive play- In the Canes’ early season struggles, the young defense took a big step back from where it was last year. A large number of defensive breakdowns and turnovers led to many easy goals for the opposition. Lately, the Canes have been much better in that regard. The San Jose game was perhaps the team’s best defensive effort of the season, with the defenders consistently coming back to break up plays and clog up the middle of the ice.

While the occasional breakdown has still been there, the team now has a goaltender it can trust behind it, and the defense is no longer giving up an avalanche of grade-A chances. The combination of the improvement of team defense and Ward’s strong play in net has allowed the Hurricanes to significantly cut down on the number of goals against.

Depth scoring emerges- While the Canes were able to score plenty of goals in their sluggish start, the team was not getting offensive contributions across the board. The Carolina attack was largely relying on the play of the dynamic duo of forwards Victor Rask and Jeff Skinner. If those two were shut down, the offense dried up. That has not been the case over this streak. Skinner and Rask continue to play well, combining for four goals in the four games, but others have stepped forward as well.

Over the past four games, the Canes have also gotten goals from forwards Jordan Staal, Teuvo Teravainen, Sebastian Aho, Joakim Nordstrom and Elias Lindholm and defenseman Noah Hanifin. Take the San Jose game as an example. With the score tied at 0-0 late in third, it was fourth liner Nordstrom who came through for the game winner. If the Canes can continue to rely on all four lines to contribute, their offense will be that much more dangerous.

Rock-solid penalty kill- Something that has been a staple of the Canes ever since Bill Peters took over as head coach, the Hurricanes’ penalty kill has reached its peak of excellence so far this season. The team currently sits at 91.3 percent on the penalty kill, good for first in the NHL. The Canes have only surrendered four power play goals this season.

The key for the penalty kill has been good positioning in the defensive zone to clear the puck. Most of all, however, the team has applied pressure up ice and through the neutral zone to keep opposing man advantages from setting up in the offensive zone. With Carolina consistently holding other teams’ power plays to zero, the team has won the special-teams battle in almost every game.

Thanks to better defensive play, the red hot Ward in net, more depth scoring and the league’s best penalty kill, the Canes have won four games in a row to right the ship. If these four things can continue to go well for the Canes, they should be able to continue to rack up wins and get into the playoff chase.