The Hurricanes broke their losing streak and Alex Nedeljkovic earned his second career shutout in the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Carolina Hurricanes third of four games in a row.
The game had a fairly slow yet physical start, with not many shots on goal from either team, but plenty of hits from both.
The Blue Jackets’ David Savard received a penalty for tripping about four minutes into the game, resulting in a power play for the Hurricanes. Carolina currently has the best power plays to power play goals ratio in the league, with 31%.
Near the end of that power play, the Blue Jackets’ captain, Nick Filigno, received a penalty for boarding. Filigno hit Brett Pesce, who was facing the wall, into the wall.
This new penalty resulted in a brief five-on-three.
The Hurricanes scored the first goal of the game at even strength, however. Brady Skjei made a shot off of a rebound from a shot made by Sebastian Aho.
“We didn’t check well enough in the second and they did,” said Foligno. “They’re a hard team to come back against.”
The Blue Jackets got their first power play in the second period. Jordan Martinook received a penalty for high-sticking on Kevin Stenlund.
The Hurricanes’ Jesper Fast scored the second goal of the game. Fast tipped the puck in assisted by Pesce and Hurricanes’ captain Jordan Staal.
Image courtesy of NHL.com
The Hurricanes made it 3-0 about two minutes later. Martin Necas scored a goal against Joonas Korpisalo assisted by Aho and Dougie Hamilton.
Hamilton broke the Hurricanes’ franchise record for longest points streak by a defenseman with that assist. Hamilton has 12 and the former franchise record holder, Mark Howe, had 11.
“They had some odd man rushes which we haven’t really seen against our team in a long time,” said Foligno.
The Blue Jackets had two more power plays before the end of the game. Martinook received a penalty for interference against Jack Roslovic. Then, with about five minutes left in the game, Aho received a penalty for slashing against Zach Werenski, giving the Blue Jackets one last power play. They still did not score.
Prior to this game the Hurricanes had lost three games in a row, two of which were also against the Blue Jackets.
Petr Mrazek, Teuvo Teravainen and Vincent Trocheck have not yet returned to play due to injuries.
The Blue Jackets and the Hurricanes are scheduled to play again Thursday.
“We get another crack at them – different game, different story,” said the Blue Jackets’ Max Domi. “It’s going to be like a playoff game, that’s how we have to go into them, that’s how we have to approach them.”
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