Hurricanes erupt late to pull away from Blue Jackets

Field Level Media|published: Tue 31st March, 22:37 2026

Mar 31, 2026; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Carolina Hurricanes left wing Nikolaj Ehlers (27) passes the puck as Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov (9) defends during the first period at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images

Nikolaj Ehlers scored once as part of a three-point night and Andrei Svechnikov collected a goal and an assist to pace the visiting Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-2 victory over the slumping Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

Shayne Gostisbehere, Logan Stankoven and Jordan Martinook also scored for the Eastern Conference-leading Hurricanes (47-21-6, 100 points).

Goaltender Brandon Bussi made 23 saves for Carolina, which claimed the first half of a home-and-home series.

Kirill Marchenko netted one goal and one assist, while Adam Fantilli added a tally for the Blue Jackets (38-25-12, 88 points), who are winless in four games.

Jet Greaves stopped 26 shots and Mason Marchment collected a pair of assists.

Columbus, which has just one victory in six outings (1-4-1), is clinging to the Eastern Conference's second wild-card position.

The clubs meet again on Thursday in Raleigh, N.C.

After the Hurricanes surrendered a two-goal advantage, Ehlers restored the Carolina lead at 12:42 of the third period. While weaving around the zone, he fired a long, high shot that found the mark for the first of his team's three unanswered goals.

Columbus challenged for goaltender interference but was overruled, and that proved costly for the Blue Jackets.

On the ensuing power play, Svechnikov added to the lead with a needle-threading one-timer from the right face-off dot at 13:55.

Martinook's short-handed empty-net goal in the final minute sealed the victory.

The Hurricanes staked a two-goal lead with a pair of first-period power-play goals less than three minutes apart, only to see it slip away.

Gostisbehere opened the scoring when he unloaded a one-timer from just inside the right circle at 13:29.

Carolina has scored on the power play in seven consecutive games.

Stankoven doubled the lead at 16:12. Mark Jankowski stole the puck deep in Columbus territory and slipped a pass to the slot, where Stankoven buried it.

The Blue Jackets clawed back. Marchenko tucked home a loose puck while parked deep in the zone at 15:14 of the second period and Fantilli tied the clash by burying a sharp-angled one-timer off the rush 2:07 into the third.

--Field Level Media

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