Staal's two goals lead Hurricanes by Blue Jackets
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Jordan Staal scored twice as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 in a tightly-contested game Friday night at Nationwide Arena.
Staal scored the game-winner at 8:54 of the third period after scoring the tying goal 3:50 into the second period. Brock McGinn added an empty-net goal for Carolina, which won consecutive games for the second time this season.
Staal recorded his 12th career two-goal game and first since Feb. 25, 2012, for Pittsburgh against Tampa Bay.
Brandon Dubinsky scored for Columbus, which dropped its fourth straight.
The Blue Jackets opened scoring after an impressive tape-to-tape outlet pass from center Tyler Motte found a hustling Dubinsky who beat Hurricane's defensemen Justin Faulk to the puck and to the net. Left winger Markus Hannikainen earned a second assist on the effort.
After a slow start to the season, Dubinsky has tallied a pair of goals and a pair of assists in his last five games.
Carolina capitalized on a miscue to tie the game.
After the Hurricanes gathered the wayward pass, defenseman Noah Hanifin feigned a shot from between the hash marks in front of Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and slid a pass to an unchallenged Staal standing at the side of the Blue Jackets net.
Teuvo Teravainen was credited with an assist on the play.
Carolina goaltender Cam Ward stopped 25 of 26 shots he faced en route to his second victory of the season while Bobrovsky saved 26 of 28.
NOTES: Carolina D Brett Pesce returned to the line-up after missing three games with a concussion. ... The Hurricanes have not earned consecutive victories since mid-October. ... Columbus has not scored a power-play goal in four straight games (0-for-11) and is winless in those games. ... The Blue Jackets have outscored their opponents 42-31 while playing at even strength and five-on-five. ... Blue Jackets LW Matt Calvert and C Lukas Sedlak are on the injured reserve list. ... Six Hurricane players, G Scott Darling, LW Teuvo Teravainen, C Marcus Kruger, D Trevor van Riemsdyk, LW Joakim Nordstrom and D Klas Dahlbeck began their careers with the Chicago Blackhawks. ... On Saturday, it will be 20 years that the Columbus organization has been known as the Blue Jackets. On Nov. 11, 1997, team officials announced the name of the franchise. ... Blue Jackets D Scott Harrington, LW Sonny Milano and C Zac Dalpe were scratched as were Carolina's D Klas Dahlbeck, RW Lee Stempniak and C Patrick Brown.