Blue Jackets 4, Hurricanes 3
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Right winger Jack Skille scored with 2:34 remaining as the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied in the waning minutes to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Monday night at PNCA Arena.
Skille, who was playing in only his ninth game, has four goals.
Blue jackets center Ryan Johansen scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season on a 2-on-1 break with 4:01 left to tie the game. He took a pass from left winger Nick Foligno.
Hurricanes right winger Alexander Semin scored his first goal in almost two months to break a third-period tie and forward Jeff Skinner scored twice for the Hurricanes, who lost their third game in a row.
Center Artem Anisimov and right winger Corey Tropp also scored for Columbus.
The outcome gave Blue Jackets goaltender Mike McKenna his first victory in his fourth appearance with the team. He made 30 saves.
Hurricanes goalie Justin Peters stopped 21 shots.
Semin's fourth goal of the season -- and first since Oct. 24 -- came on center Jordan Staal's second assist of the game with 10:54 remaining.
Semin's goal drought encompassed 14 games because he missed more than three weeks with an injury.
Skinner, a left winger, scored a pair of power-play goals. He has 10 goals in a 10-game period.
Anisimov became the fifth Columbus player to reach the 10-goal plateau this season.
Tropp's goal, which came with 4:21 remaining in the second period, was his first of the season in 21 games.
The Blue Jackets scored at 9:45 of the first period when Anisimov converted from in front of the net after right winger Cam Atkinson won the race to the puck beyond the end line and delivered a perfect pass. Anisimov unleashed the shot before he was knocked down by Carolina defenseman Andrej Sekera.
Skinner's power-play goal at 18:49 tied the game at 1.
Tropp regained the lead for the Blue Jackets at 15:39 of the second period shortly after a Columbus power play expired.
Less than a minute later, Carolina pulled even again when Skinner scored off a face-off to begin a 5-on-3 power play.
NOTES: The teams met for the first of five times this season. They are both members of the new Metropolitan Division. ... Carolina entered the game with identical 7-7-4 records at home and on the road. ... Columbus C Artem Anisimov extended his season-high points streak to three game with his first-period goal. ... Hurricanes D Jay Harrison was scratched due to an upper-body injury. ... Columbus was without LW Matt Calvert, whose suffered a sprained shoulder suffered Saturday night. He might be out of action for a few weeks. ... Blue Jackets RW Jack Skille played for only the second time in eight games. He had been bothered by a hand ailment. Columbus C Derek MacKenzie was back on the ice after a two-game absence caused by a lower-body injury. ... The Blue Jackets, who play only one home game in a seven-game stretch, visit the New Jersey Devils on Friday. ... The Hurricanes began a four-game stretch that includes three home games, including Friday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
