COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Carolina Hurricanes got another shot at Columbus and made the most of it.
Brad Malone’s goal capped a big second period for Carolina and helped the Hurricanes end a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Blue Jackets on Sunday.
Justin Faulk and Ron Hainsey also scored for the Hurricanes. Andrej Nestrasil had two assists, and Anton Khudobin made 22 saves.
Nick Foligno and Scott Hartnell had the goals for Columbus, which had won three straight. One of those wins was Tuesday, when the Blue Jackets trailed 3-1 after the first period but rallied for a 4-3 shootout victory against the Hurricanes.
"It was definitely in the back of our minds," Carolina defenceman John-Michal Liles said.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 shots for the Blue Jackets.
Carolina scored three of the four goals in the second period to go ahead 3-2, the last one a redirect by Malone off a shot from the point by Brett Bellemore. Malone has seven goals.
"Some guys are going for one shift, then the next shift it was hard to watch from the bench," Hartnell said. "It was a frustrating period, to say the least. I don’t think we’re a good enough team to win when it’s not 20 guys going. That’s a fact."
The Hurricanes had tied the score 1-all at 8:11 of the second on their fifth power play with Faulk’s slap shot from the blue line. The defenceman has 14 goals.
"He’s got the shot that’s a weapon and he’s become more comfortable bringing the puck up the ice," Carolina coach Bill Peters said.
Penalties ruined the Blue Jackets’ momentum after they took a 1-0 lead in the first period. They went to the penalty box three times in the first 7 minutes of the second.
"It’s easier to get into a rhythm when you’re on the power play rather than the penalty kill," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "It puts extra pressure, stress on your defencemen, goaltenders, and forwards as well. … It’s not a good recipe."
Hainsey put Carolina up with a snap shot from the left wall at 9:45 for his second goal. Hartnell’s 21st goal, his fifth in four games, made it 2-all at 12:27.
Rookie linemate Marko Dano’s stickhandling sent Hurricanes defenceman Michal Jordan to the ice, and Dano drove to the net before dishing a backhand pass to Hartnell at the crease.
"When we were going out there he said, ‘I’ll be skating down the wing,"’ Hartnell said of Dano. "I’m thinking that’s a pretty confident player right before the draw.
"The pass was almost as nice as the move. It was a backhand, saucer pass. I’ll take one of those every night for sure."
Foligno gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period when he scored on a power play with 0.6 seconds left. He got his 25th of the season on a rebound of his own stuff shot by slipping the puck between Khudobin’s pads.
But the Hurricanes did not get discouraged.
"It’s over and done with. It’s unfortunate," Liles said. "Nobody wants to give up a goal that late in the period, especially on the penalty kill. Guys refocused and from there were strong on the penalty kill."
It was the second buzzer-beater in two games for Columbus. The Blue Jackets got a power-play goal from Cam Atkinson with 2.7 seconds remaining in the first period against Edmonton on Friday.
NOTES: Carolina defenceman Ryan Murphy missed his second straight game because of illness. Rasmus Rissanen replaced him. Rissanen left in the second period after jamming his right leg into the boards. . Columbus centre Brandon Dubinsky returned after missing two games with an illness. . The Blue Jackets lead the NHL with 439 man games lost. Carolina is at 135. … The healthy scratches for Columbus were defencemen Cody Goloubef and Justin Falk, while defenceman Jack Hillen and centre Riley Nash sat for the Hurricanes. . Carolina defenceman John-Michael Liles got his stick stuck in the visor of Columbus defenceman Jack Johnson in the first period while trying to check him. Johnson had to take his helmet off to remove the stick during a stoppage. There was no penalty.
