Carolina Hurricanes stifle Columbus Blue Jackets on the road: 3 takeaways

Twenty-three hours earlier, the Blue Jackets pounced on a mentally exhausted opponent in Columbus that was stumbling over its own feet trying to make the playoffs.

They hammered the Philadelphia Flyers at Nationwide Arena while matching an NHL record with six goals scored by defensemen to open a home/road back-to-back with a win and finish a four-game homestand with an impressive 3-1-0 record.

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Sunday in Raleigh, North Carolina, they found out why the Carolina Hurricanes are revving their engines for the postseason instead of scrapping to be included. Andrei Svechnikov scored 17 seconds into the game, the Hurricanes built a 2-0 lead in the first period and Carolina polished off a 3-0 shutout at PNC Arena while outshooting Columbus 35-23.

"They play a style that is very fast," Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said during the Bally Sports Columbus postgame broadcast. "They're playing North. That's a good hockey team ... but considering the back-to-back, considering the lineup, lots of young players, I thought the guys played well and they competed hard against a very good hockey team."

Sebastian Aho scored the second goal of the first period for the Hurricanes (49-22-7), whose added an insurance goal in the third by Teuvo Teravainen with 6:07 left to play. Frederik Anderson made 23 saves for the goaltending win and third shutout of the season (15 games).

Malcolm Subban, who backed up rookie Jet Greaves on Saturday, took the loss in net for Columbus while making 32 saves in his first action for the Blue Jackets (26-40-12) ― his fifth NHL team.

Here are three takeaways:

Columbus Blue Jackets have more possession issues against playoff ‘heavy’ Carolina Hurricanes

This game was one of those back-to-back turnaround games that was almost a guaranteed loss before the first puck even hit the ice at PNC Arena.

The Blue Jackets downed the Flyers 23 hours earlier and boarded their flight to Raleigh, while the Hurricanes were off Saturday recovering from a back-to-back of their own. Carolina is also second in the Metropolitan Division for multiple reasons.

The Hurricanes are big, skilled, experienced and filled with ‘heavy’ skaters who make life miserable for most opponents between the circles at both ends of the ice. They’re a lot like the Winnipeg Jets, Vegas Golden Knights, New York Islanders and other Stanley Cup contenders who’ve given the youth-oriented Blue Jackets fits this season, even before a rash of injuries and other issues took up to 10 NHL regulars out of the lineup.

Once again, the heavier and better overall team controlled the game by dominating the middle of the ice from end-to-end. The Hurricanes outshot the Jackets 13-5 in the first period, building a 2-0 lead, and finished with a 35-23 edge in shots while owning the puck in terms of attempted shots, scoring chances, high-danger chances and expected goals.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Carolina won the 5-on-5 battle with edges in attempts (56.4%), shots (56%), scoring chances (27-14, 65.8%), high-danger chances (15-3, 83.3%) and expected goals (2.89-1.31). A high number of attempts for the Hurricanes were launched from the slot areas, as compared to most of the Blue Jackets’ attempts coming from the perimeter and blue line.

Among multiple areas of improvements the Blue Jackets must make to become playoff contenders, this one tops the list.

Malcolm Subban plays solid in net for Columbus Blue Jackets despite allowing early goal in loss to Carolina Hurricanes

Subban hadn’t played an NHL game since taking a loss with the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 11, 2022. That’s a gap of more than two years that created some butterflies in his stomach prior to his Blue Jackets debut Sunday against the Hurricanes.

“I was thinking, ‘I don’t remember it being like this,’ you know?” Subban said. “It’s different when you’re playing every time, but I just tried to go out there and have fun.”

That wasn’t an easy task thanks to Svechnikov scoring the game’s first goal just 17 seconds into it. A turnover by Johnny Gaudreau at the Carolina Blue line sent the puck back into the Blue Jackets’ zone, where Svechnikov beat Subban from the right circle with a shot that went under his blocker on the far side. It wasn’t the most enjoyable start, but Subban settled into the game nicely ― making 32 saves on 35 shots while keeping the Blue Jackets within two goals until late in the third.

“I was just like, ‘Alright, just shake it off and forget about it ... don’t think about it at all,’” Subban said. “(It was), ‘Just keep going, there’s a lot of game left,’ and I just tried to get into the game after that.”

Subban’s first game with the Blue Jackets was Saturday as rookie Jet Greaves’ backup in a victory over the Flyers. They became the first Black goaltending tandem for an NHL game since Fred Brathwaite and Grant Fuhr did it with the Calgary Flames nearly 24 years earlier on April 8, 2000.

They did the same thing in reverse against the Hurricanes, as Elvis Merzlikins continues to be listed “day-to-day" with a lower-body injury that’s kept him out the past three games. Greaves and Subban are both with the Blue Jackets as emergency recalls until one or both of Merzlikins and/or Daniil Tarasov (upper body) are healthy enough to play.

Sean Kuraly’s return one of few bright spots for Columbus Blue Jackets in loss to Carolina Hurricanes

Vincent announced before the game that Sean Kuraly would dress after missing 12 games with a lower-body injury. The veteran center anchored the third line, playing 13:43 on 16 shifts and going 5-for-9 on faceoffs (56%).

His return pushed Carson Meyer out of the lineup, but that was also a “gametime” decision because Justin Danforth went into the pregame warmup questionable to play. Danforth played 13:18 as Kuraly’s right wing, hitting the crossbar in the first period, while Kuraly gave himself and the Blue Jackets a morale boost by playing.

“It’s not fun (watching) on TV or in person,” Kuraly said. “You want to be a part of it. We’ve been a group all season, and you just feel like you’re missing out. You just do your best to get better as fast as you can, and when you’re better you make yourself available and try to get in.”

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets shut down by Hurricanes to start final trip: 3 takeaways