Hurricanes 4, Blue Jackets 1
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Center Elias Lindholm scored a tiebreaking goal in the second period and a clinching goal late in the game as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 on Friday night at PNC Arena.
Center Jordan Staal scored earlier on a power play for the Hurricanes (17-18-7), who won for the first time in four games. Left winger Chris Terry tallied in the third period for the Hurricanes before Lindholm's empty-net goal with 1:01 to play.
Carolina goalie Cam Ward made 35 saves. Ward notched his first victory since Dec. 26, though it was only his third appearance since then.
Center Brandon Dubinsky had the goal for Columbus, which dropped to 8-15-0 in road games.
Each team was playing its first game after reaching the midway marks on their schedules.
Goalie Anton Forsberg stopped 25 shots for the Blue Jackets.
Columbus (15-24-4) had its lowest goal total in a nine-game stretch. The Blue Jackets averaged 3.6 goals during the previous eight games.
After Carolina's third goal, Dubinsky and Hurricanes center Brad Malone dropped the gloves in a fight that might have been a sign of rising tensions for teams that will meet on back-to-back nights.
The Hurricanes gave up one only goal in the second period despite Columbus twice going on 5-on-3 power plays.
Carolina claimed a 2-1 lead when Lindholm snapped a 12-game drought without a goal. He tipped in a shot taken by defenseman Noah Hanifin.
Staal was positioned in front of the net and redirected defenseman Jaccob Slavin's shot, with the puck going through Forsberg's legs with 3:51 left in the first period.
Right winger Kris Versteeg contributed assists on the first two Carolina goals, pushing his team-leading total to 19.
Dubinsky's goal came after the Blue Jackets' first two-man advantage expired, but with time remaining with a one-man advantage on the power play.
Dubinsky collected a rebound, with his shot sending the puck off Carolina defenseman John-Michael Liles' skate and into the net.
NOTES: This was the first of four meetings this season between the teams at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings. They meet again Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. ... This was the first game with the Blue Jackets for D Seth Jones, who joined the team two days earlier in a trade with the Nashville Predators. He was a minus-two in 22:31 of ice time. ... With Jones on board, D Dalton Prout was out of the lineup for the first time in 10 games. ... C Victor Rask missed a Carolina game for the first time this season. He left Wednesday night's game at Vancouver with an upper-body injury, then was scratched two nights later.