Hurricanes score 3 unanswered in 3rd, rally past Blue Jackets

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Andrei Svechnikov scored his first goal of the season for the Carolina Hurricanes, who rallied from two goals down in the third period for a 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets and PNC Arena on Sunday.

Svechnikov made it 3-2 with 1:55 remaining on a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Sebastian Aho. The 23-year-old forward, who tore the ACL in his right knee on March 11, has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 12 games this season. 

“It’s kind of a relief, but I actually wasn’t thinking of it all,” Svechnikov said. “I knew it was going to come. It was the right time and the right moment, and a huge win for us.”

Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Brady Skjei also scored, and Pyotr Kochetkov made 21 saves for the Hurricanes (12-8-0), who have won three of their past four. Seth Jarvis had two assists.

“It kind of felt like, here we go, it’s not our night,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “But I give our guys a lot of credit because there was no hanging their heads or anything. They just kept playing. We got what we deserved tonight, for sure.”

Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist, and Kirill Marchenko scored for the Blue Jackets (6-12-4), who had won two straight. Elvis Merzlikins made 40 saves.

“We did it right for most of the game, but that’s not enough,” Columbus coach Pascal Vincent said. “They play a playoff style, and that’s what happens in the playoffs. You just lose yourself a little bit and you give an inch and the next thing you know the game is over.”

Kotkaniemi cut the lead to 2-1 at 10:01 of the third period when he took a pass from Teuvo Teravainen and scored glove side with a wrist shot from the slot.

Skjei tied it 2-2 at 16:51, getting to a loose puck in front and finishing with his backhand.

“I think I got three (goals) tonight, two off of me for [Columbus], and I got one for us,” Skjei said. “Obviously, there is no quit in our game. We always play like that. Even tonight down two, no one didn’t believe we could come back and win.”

Marchenko scored 13 seconds into the third to give the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead. His shot from the right face-off circle tipped off Skjei’s stick and beat Kochetkov over his left shoulder at the near post.

“We played well, I think, and we had a lot of chances,” Marchenko said. “It’s about us. We played a really good two periods, we played good in the third period. It’s tough when it leads to nothing.”

Gaudreau made it 2-0 at 6:41 with another shot that deflected off Skjei and floated over Kochetkov.

“We were playing well, we were playing smart,” Gaudreau said. “We were just trying to emulate their game, get the puck out, get the puck in and kind of wait for your chance. We might have sat back a little bit, but they were just pushing.”

Despite trailing by two in the third, Brind’Amour felt his team played well.

“There’s not much more we could have done,” he said. “Our power play looked good, we had a ton of opportunities. We were doing it the way we needed to do it, but their goalie was making some unbelievable saves. I was happy with the win, but the way we played, it was good.”

NOTES: The Hurricanes were not assessed a penalty for the first time since Jan. 9, 2018, a 5-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. … Svechnikov, who also had an assist, extended his point streak to four games (one goal, four assists). … Aho went 12-for-16 on face-offs. ... Jarvis has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past four games.