The Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets played part 2 of their home-and-home series on Friday. In a tight game, the Carolina Hurricanes extended their win streak to 4 games with a 3-2 overtime win.
Scoring Summary
Carolina Goal: 2:43 of 2nd period – Jeff Skinner (2), unassisted
After a strong stick play in front of the Columbus goal, Jeff Skinner took the puck from a Blue Jackets defenseman, kicked the puck on to his stick, and backhanded it past Curtis McElhinney to make it 1-0.
Columbus Goal: 11:15 of 2nd period – Scott Hartnell (2), assisted by Boone Jenner (1), Frederic St. Denis (1)
After a long shift by the Hurricanes 4th line, Patrick Dwyer failed to clear the zone. That lead to Boone Jenner’s centering pass that bounced off the skate of Jay Harrison and right to Hartnell who put it past Cam Ward to tie the game at 1.
Columbus Goal: 18:44 of 2nd period – Scott Hartnell (3), assisted by Boone Jenner (2), Cam Atkinson (3)
After a stop by Cam Ward, Scott Hartnell swooped in and put a loose puck in the slot home past Cam Ward through traffic in front. Hartnell’s 2nd goal put the Blue Jackets up 2-1.
Carolina Goal: 11:51 of 3rd period – Victor Rask (2), assisted by Nathan Gerbe (3), Alexander Semin (3)
A great shift by the Carolina Hurricanes top line was finished off by a beautiful snipe from the top of the slot from Victor Rask that found its way past McElhinney. Semin had a good, hard-working shift that lead to the goal.
Carolina PP Goal: 4:22 of Overtime – Elias Lindholm (4), assisted by Eric Staal (4), Victor Rask (1)
Eric Staal stole the puck from the Blue Jackets on the Hurricanes blue line, and he threw the puck up ice to Lindholm, and he sent a wrist shot past McElhinney on the 2-on-1.
Three Stars
1st Star: Elias Lindholm – GWG, 3 shots, 1 hit, 16:18 TOI, 4-game point streak
2nd Star: Jeff Skinner – 1 goal, 5 shots, 1 hit, 19:46 TOI
3rd Star: Cam Ward – 29 saves on 31 shots, 4-game win streak
Recap
The Carolina Hurricanes picked up a big 3-2 overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night in Raleigh to extend their win streak to 4 games.
The Swedes played big for the Carolina Hurricanes. Victor Rask played what I thought was his best game in the NHL on Friday. He had his first multi-point game, and he won a whopping 78% of his faceoffs in 16:28 of ice time.
Elias Lindholm extended his point streak to 4 games with his game-winning overtime goal on Friday. After playing limited time in period one after getting a stick in the face, he came back and played 16:18 and had the big goal in overtime.
Justin Faulk was a force on offense against the Blue Jackets. He put a season-high 7 shots on Curtis McElhinney and played a team-high 27:02 of ice time on Friday.
Cam Ward won his 4th consecutive game on Friday. He has started 5 straight games for the Carolina Hurricanes, and he has played his best hockey in seasons as of late. Cam Ward is 4-0-0 with a 1.48 goals against average and a .944 save percentage on Carolina’s 4 game win streak.
Bill Peters has confirmed that Anton Khudobin will get the start for the Carolina Hurricanes against the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.
The Carolina Hurricanes struggled on the power play for most of the night. They started the game 0-6, but they scored when they needed it the most on the man advantage. Lindholm’s game winner was on the power play, and they finished 1-7 on the power play.
Friday night in Raleigh was about more than just hockey. It was Hockey Fights Cancer Night at the PNC Arena Friday night, and it was an incredible tribute to those who are fighting cancer and those who have lost their battles to cancer.
The Carolina Hurricanes improved to 4-6-2 with their win on Friday. They will take on the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at 8:00 pm in the nation’s capital.