Blue Jackets 5, Hurricanes 1
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Brandon Saad produced his first hat trick as the Columbus Blue Jackets upended the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 on Saturday night at PNC Arena.
Boone Jenner also scored for the Blue Jackets, reaching 30 goals for the season, during the wild second period. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored for Columbus in the third period.
Jeff Skinner scored for the Hurricanes (34-29-16), whose bid for a spot in the postseason took a damaging blow.
Saad had his three goals by the end of the second period for the Blue Jackets, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Columbus (31-39-8) is trying to avoid finishing with the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
Columbus goalie Joonas Korpisalo stopped 26 shots.
Goalie Eddie Lack made 22 saves for Carolina.
The Blue Jackets led 4-1 through two periods despite the Hurricanes dictating play at times.
Saad's three goals turned the tide and then it got worse for Carolina.
Jenner added a goal with less than a second remaining in the second period on a five-on-three power play.
Skinner opened the scoring, collecting the puck around the blue line and made a nifty move to find space and launch a shot from the right side.
The Blue Jackets didn't have a shot on goal for more than seven minutes to begin the game. But they pulled even on Saad's first goal with 5:43 to go in the opening period.
Saad charged down the ice on what amounted to nearly a full length of the ice breakaway.
That was one of the few early scoring chances for the Blue Jackets because the Hurricanes had a 17-4 first-period edge in shots.
NOTES: Hurricanes D Justin Faulk entered the game with 16 goals, matching the franchise record for goals in a season by a defenseman since relocation to North Carolina almost 20 years ago. Anton Babchuk reached 16 goalspreviously. ... The Blue Jackets sent D Justin Falk back to Lake Erie of the American Hockey League. He had been back with Columbus for a game, though he was scratched. ... The Hurricanes called up F Brody Sutter and F Brendan Woods from Charlotte of the AHL after sending down C Derek Ryan and LW Sergey Tolchinsky. The latter made his NHL debut on Thursday night. ... Columbus returns home for Monday night's game against the New York Rangers. ... This was the second-to-last home game for Carolina, which goes to Boston on Tuesday night before the home finale on Thursday night against Montreal.