R.J. Umberger racked up a hat trick and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-1 on Friday night at Nationwide Arena. Goalie Steve Mason made 39 saves on 40 shots and stayed undefeated, (4-0-0) against the Canes.
Carolina goalie Cam Ward remains without a career win against the Columbus franchise, (0-4-0) and allowed five goals on just 26 shots.
Carolina fell behind 2-0 before Drayson Bowman would make things interesting with his sixth goal of the season in the second period, but Umberger would score a minute and change later and the Jackets would put the game away in the third.
Next up will be the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.
Game Notes:
- Carolina put up 19 shots on goal in the third and 40 for the game. Jussi Jokinen led the way with six while Chad LaRose and Bowman chipped in five each.
- The powerplay was ineffective, (0-5) and failed to take advantage of 1:35 of 5-on-3 play.
- For some reason, the team had only 14 hits for the game led by Jay Harrison with three.
- for post game interviews check out Canes PR.com.