The Carolina Hurricanes held off a third-period surge from the Columbus Blue Jackets to win 3-2 on Thursday at Lenovo Center, improving to 11-2-2 on the season. Mark Jankowski scored the go-ahead goal and Seth Jarvis finished with two assists for Carolina, which built a 3-0 lead before Columbus scored twice in the final 10 minutes.
Jordan Martinook opened the scoring at 15:51 of the first period, and Logan Stankoven made it 2-0 early in the second period. Jankowski struck 16 seconds into the third to put Carolina up 3-0, but Denton Mateychuk and Kent Johnson answered for Columbus to pull the Blue Jackets within one before the Hurricanes closed it out. Columbus falls to 5-6-0.
Key Moments: How Carolina Built Its Lead
Martinook gave the Hurricanes an early cushion with a wrist shot at 15:51 of the first period, assisted by Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin, making it 0-1. Carolina doubled its lead in the second when Stankoven buried a snap shot at 7:47 on assists from Ehlers and Blake to make it 2-0.
Carolina then delivered the knockout blow almost immediately in the third period. Jankowski scored on a snap shot just 16 seconds in, assisted by Jarvis and Jalen Chatfield, pushing the margin to 0-3. The Blue Jackets would not go quietly. Mateychuk scored on a snap shot at 6:56, and Johnson deflected one in at 9:50 to cut the deficit to 2-3, but Carolina’s goaltending held up the rest of the way.
Top Performers
Jarvis led with two assists. Jankowski had a goal and won 14 of 25 faceoffs. Kochetkov stopped 24 of 26 shots (.923 save percentage).
For Columbus, Mateychuk scored and added an assist on his shot. Johnson scored. Greaves made 24 saves on 27 shots (.889 save percentage).
What It Means
The Hurricanes improved to 11-2-2 and lead the Metropolitan Division with 24 points. Columbus fell to 5-6-0, now two points behind Pittsburgh for the division’s seventh spot.
What’s Next
Carolina returns to the ice looking to maintain its division lead, while Columbus seeks to capitalize on the momentum from its third-period comeback effort.
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