Goaltender Dustin Tokarski returned to the NHL a winner, recording 27 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 on Sunday in Raleigh, N.C.
Tokarski made his Carolina debut, appearing with his sixth NHL team. The 35-year-old hadn’t won an NHL game since Jan. 10, 2023, when he and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Vancouver Canucks.
Carolina’s Jordan Martinook had a goal and an assist, while Sebastian Aho, William Carrier and Jesperi Kotkaniemi also scored and Jordan Staal had two assists.
The Hurricanes won for the third time in their last eight games (3-5-0).
Dmitri Voronkov scored for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four in a row (0-2-2). Elvis Merzlikins, who stopped 24 shots, has just one victory in his last five outings (1-4-0).
A few Hurricanes halted scoring droughts just two days after Carolina was a shutout victim against the Ottawa Senators.
Aho’s first goal in nine games came about midway through a four-minute Columbus power play. He was set up on a two-on-one rush by Seth Jarvis’ pass at 8:28 of the first period.
Carrier scored his third goal of the season in the final minute of the opening period. He made it to the slot, converting a backhand shot on a Staal feed. Carrier had gone 13 games without scoring.
Voronkov scored his eighth goal of the season for the Blue Jackets with 4:08 left in the second period, set up by Kirill Marchenko, to make it 2-1.
Just 1:24 later, Martinook’s tally came on a redirection from in front of the net. Staal took a shot from inside the blue line, following an unusual rotation among the Hurricanes in the offensive zone. Martinook’s seventh goal of the season halted a 13-game stretch without a goal.
Kotkaniemi closed the scoring with his fifth goal of the campaign at the 6:19 mark of the third. Martin Necas picked up his 30th assist of the season on the goal.
–Field Level Media