CBJ@CAR: Dubois nets backhander on break

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Columbus Blue Jackets came from behind to hand the Carolina Hurricanes their first loss of the season, 3-2 at PNC Arena on Saturday.

Pierre-Luc Dubois put the Blue Jackets ahead 3-2 at 1:15 of the third period when he took a pass from Gustav Nyquist, got a step on Hurricanes forward Brock McGinn, and scored with a backhand past goalie James Reimer.
"You never know if McGinn] is going to hold you or lift your stick," Dubois said. "My first instinct was to get him as far as possible behind me. I have a long reach, so get the puck in front of me. Once I got it, just make a quick move because I didn't really have time to react."
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Markus Nutivaara and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored, and Ryan Murray and Alex Wennberg each had two assists for Columbus (2-3-0). Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves.
Erik Haula and Dougie Hamilton scored for Carolina (5-1-0), and Reimer made 32 saves. The loss ended the longest season-opening winning streak in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history.
"They (played) exactly how we thought they were going to come and play us to a T, and we weren't ready," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We didn't mentally prepare properly as a group for that kind of game. We got what we deserved."

CBJ@CAR: Nutivaara finishes Murray's great pass

Nutivaara, a defenseman, gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead when Murray passed through the left face-off circle to him alone at the net for a tap-in at 10:17.
"I just came off the bench and saw an opportunity," Murray said. "I was really surprised it was [Nutivaara] putting it in on the backdoor. We had a good laugh about it."
Haula tied the game 1-1 27 seconds later when he scored his fifth goal in six games. Three quick passes led to Haula finishing a feed from Ryan Dzingel from the slot at 10:44.
Hamilton scored for the fourth straight game to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead at 2:51 of the second. With the puck on its edge, he sent a slap shot under the crossbar.
Jaccob Slavin got the primary assist on Hamilton's goal to extend his point streak to five games (two goals, three assists).
Bjorkstrand tied it 2-2 17 seconds later. He skated the puck from behind the net to the high slot and scored unassisted on a wrist shot at 3:08.
"It happens fast, but it's kind of instincts," Bjorkstrand said. "You come from behind the net and see a little ice, and you try to go for it. That was a situation where I could take advantage of it, and I got the shot through."
Columbus limited Carolina's high-quality chances down the stretch, including the final 2:10 when Reimer was pulled for an extra attacker.
"Not just the last two minutes, the whole third period," Korpisalo said. "I didn't have to do any big saves or anything. I saw the puck, (we were) clearing rebounds. I think we played really, really well when we were leading 3-2."

CBJ@CAR: Bjorkstrand scores after cycling around

They said it

"I feel a lot better about what we're going to get out of them with a win under their belt instead of being 1-4-0 early in the season and coming to [practice] on Monday. They should feel good about themselves. Everybody contributed, we had some grind to our game. I think that's been something that's been missing consistently in our game." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella

CBJ@CAR: Korpisalo robs Staal with great save

"They were playing our game, essentially, giving us no room and frustrating us. Partly it was our own doing. I think we made it harder on ourselves than we need to with our decisions with the puck." -- Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal

Need to know

Korpisalo is 3-0-2 against the Hurricanes. … Murray and Nutivaara each was plus-3. ... Haula is the third player in Carolina/Hartford history to score at least five goals in the first six games of a season (Jeff Skinner, five, 2017-18; Al Sims, six, 1980-81). ... Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen had his point streak end at five games (two goals, four assists).

What's next

Blue Jackets: Host the Dallas Stars on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-SW, NHL.TV)
Hurricanes: At the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, FS-CR, NHL.TV)

Dubois, Korpisalo lead Blue Jackets to 3-2 win