Carolina reaches 100-point mark and stays atop East with 5-2 victory over Blue Jackets
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7:40 PM on Tuesday, March 31
By JOE REEDY
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Nikolaj Ehlers scored the go-ahead goal with 7:18 remaining and the Carolina Hurricanes reached the 100-point mark for the fifth time in franchise history, defeating the reeling Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Ehlers added two assists as the Hurricanes remained tied with Buffalo for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov had a power-play goal and an assist. Shayne Gostisbehere and Logan Stankoven also scored with the man advantage, and Jordan Martinook added a short-handed, empty-net goal. Brandon Bussi stopped 23 shots.
The Hurricanes have scored at least one power-play goal in seven consecutive games for the first time since they had an eight-game run from Dec. 23, 2023 to Jan. 11, 2024. They have gone 11 of 23 during their current run, including 3 of 5 on Tuesday night.
Kirill Marchenko and Adam Fantilli scored for Columbus, which has dropped four straight and is 1-4-1 in its last six. Jet Greaves made 26 saves.
The only saving grace for the Blue Jackets is that they still have the East’s second wild-card spot at 88 points. Ottawa, Detroit and Philadelphia — which are two points behind Columbus — all lost Tuesday night.
Columbus fell behind 2-0 but evened it 2:07 into the third on Fantilli's one-timer at a tough angle in the right faceoff circle.
Ehlers and Carolina regained the lead at 12:42 when his slap shot from the top of the zone made its way through traffic and past Greaves. Columbus challenged thinking there was goalie interference but the goal was upheld.
Carolina went on the power play and went back up by two goals on Svechnikov's one-timer from the right faceoff circle.
The teams meet Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina, for the fourth and final time in the regular season.
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