Johansen's shootout goal leads Blue Jackets over Hurricanes 4-3, hold onto playoff position

RALEIGH, N.C. - Ryan Johansen had the only goal in the shootout, giving the Columbus Blue Jackets a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

Scott Hartnell had two goals while Rene Bourque added the other for the Blue Jackets. Artem Ansimov added two assists.

Justin Faulk had a goal and two assists for Carolina, while Victor Rask and Eric Staal also scored for the Hurricanes.

Columbus, which has won two of its last three games after a five-game regulation losing streak, held onto seventh place in the Metropolitan Division and left the Hurricanes in the cellar.

Carolina had won the teams' first two meetings this season, 4-2 on the road on Nov. 4 and 3-2 in overtime in Raleigh on Nov. 7.

Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and Carolina's Cam Ward each had 29 saves.

Faulk got the Hurricanes on the board just 36 seconds into the game, beating Bobrovsky from the top of the right circle following Nathan Gerbe's pass after Jordan Staal won a faceoff.

Rask doubled the lead just 7 seconds into a power play at 12:47, scoring from the centre of the right circle with Faulk on the helper.

Columbus cut it to 2-1 on a power play at 18:05, when Bourque redirected Cam Atkinson's feed past a screened Ward from the doorstep.

Eric Staal made it 3-1 on a power play at 19:50, redirecting a Ryan Murphy one-timer that came from the right point. Faulk got the second assist.

But Hartnell cut the lead in half on a power-play goal at 2:21 of the second, picking up the loose puck in the crease and sliding it past Ward glove side with Kevin Connauton on the assist.

Hartnell tied it on another power play at 6:10 of the third with Ansimov on the primary assist.

NOTES - Evgeny Romasko, the first Russian referee in the NHL, was calling his second game. ... The Hurricanes have scored more than one power-play goal in four of their last nine games after doing it just six times in the season's first 56 games. ... Carolina, which was starting a three-game homestand, will host Dallas on Thursday night. ... Columbus is at Detroit on Thursday. ... Hurricanes D Jack Hillen (concussion) missed his second straight game. Carolina LW Chris Terry and D John-Michael Liles were healthy scratches. ... Blue Jackets LW Nick Foligno was out with illness while D Justin Falk was a healthy scratch. RW David Clarkson (oblique) missed his third straight game and is expected to be out 4-6 weeks. ... The teams' final meeting of the season is Sunday at Columbus.