Atkinson completed the hat trick with a power-play goal at 11:20 to make it 4-1. He stepped into a pass from Alex Wennberg in the right face-off circle and beat Scott Darling inside the far post.
"It's funny how the puck keeps finding you," Atkinson said. "I was trying to put myself in position in open areas. Wennberg made a [heck] of a sauce pass. I saw a little open lane and it just kind of went through [Darling]."
After Columbus took the three-goal lead, Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour called timeout.
"I don't remember (what I said) because I was losing my mind," he said. "It came down to us playing a good team, and they won all the puck battles. They were the first to everything and they played like a first-place team."
The Blue Jackets were outshot 12-5 in the third period.
"Skating was the key," Bobrovsky said. "We were very smart, very structural. We worked for each other. It was fun to be part of it."