Hurricanes 4, Blue Jackets 2

Don't look now but the Carolina Hurricanes are out of last place.

The Canes won their first road game of the season and third game in a row as they defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-2 on Tuesday night.   Both teams have eight points now, but Carolina has a game in hand on the Jackets.

These teams will do this all over on Friday night in Raleigh.

The young kids got the job done again for Carolina as Zach Boychuk, Riley Nash, and Justin Faulk lit the lamp.  Eric Staal got the empty-netter at the end of the game to put the game away.

The Canes jumped out quickly and outshot Columbus, 18-9 while taking a 2-1 lead in the opening period.

Boychuk got his goal when he controlled a rebound off a Tim Gleason shot and backhanded the puck past Curtis McElhinney to make it 1-0.

Just a minute and change later, Nash snapped a shot past the goalie and it seemed like Carolina was in control, but Nick Foligno put in a rebound during a powerplay with just 1:01 left in the first period to keep things close.

At 6:54 into the second period, Faulk scored a shorthanded goal on a pretty move that McElhinney couldn't stop.  The goal went as unassisted as the defenseman made a nice play and got a step at center ice when he poked away the puck.

Foligno would score again later in the third period to make things interesting one more time, but the Canes would hold on as they desperately blocked shots to help their goalie, while Cam Ward made the saves he had to make.

For the game, Carolina outshot the injury laden Columbus team, 37-19.

The Canes had a scary moment 7:31 into the third when Jack Johnson leveled Jiri Tlusty with a head shot.  Johnson was called for interference on the ice, but that hit looked like the league should review it.

Tlusty said after the game that he was okay, but more will be known tomorrow.  He left the game and did not return.

We will see what happens when these teams face each other again on Friday.

Game Notes:

• Faulk had a team high 26:48 of ice time.  Low man was Jeff Skinner with 11:12.
• Boychuk and Victor Rask each had five shots on goal to lead Carolina.
• Elias Lindholm earned an assist and now has a three game scoring streak.
• The Canes dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 63% for the game.  Nash led the way with 70% followed by Rask at 67%.
• The team had 14 blocks, led by Jay Harrison who had four.  Harrison was the team's player of the game and was wearing the fireman's helmet after the game.  He also dropped the gloves with Scott Hartnell and got the best of that contest while leading the team with five hits.
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