Jones scores late in OT as Blue Jackets beat Hurricanes
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Seth Jones scored his second goal with 50.4 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.
Kevin Stenlund scored in regulation for the Blue Jackets. Oliver Bjorkstrand assisted on all three goals.
Sebastian Aho scored twice for the Hurricanes, who lost their second straight after an eight-game winning streak.
Columbus goalie Joonas Korpisalo stopped 25 shots, including Martin Necas’ attempt off an overtime breakaway.
Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves for Carolina in the first of four consecutive meetings between the teams.
Jones opened and closed the scoring, giving him three goals this season.
Aho’s first goal came 51 seconds into the second period. His second goal came on a power play, though the shot was unleashed not too far from the spot of his first tally on the left side of the net.
Aho pulled even with Nino Niederreiter, who had scored in each of the past two games, and injured Vincent Trocheck for the team lead in goals with 13.
Stenlund, who wasn’t in the team’s original lineup, tied the game with 2:10 remaining in the second period. It was his fifth goal of the season.
It was the fourth consecutive Columbus game to go beyond regulation. It marked the 18th one-goal game for the Blue Jackets, who are 9-2-7 in those games.
THAT WORKED OUT
Stenlund had gone seven consecutive games without a point and was set to be a healthy scratch before the lineup change. He replaced Mikhail Grigorenko, who was out with an illness not related to COVID.
Stenlund, who has scored in both of the team’s games in Raleigh this season, had logged more than 12 minutes only once in his previous six outings.
The Columbus roster was affected by putting center Emil Bemstrom on injured reserve because of a lower-body injury sustained in Wednesday’s practice.
PRODUCING POINTS
Carolina defenseman Dougie Hamilton has a 10-game points streak after his assist on Aho’s second goal.
That’s one game shy of the franchise record for a defenseman.
During the current streak, Hamilton has just one game with more than one point. He holds the NHL’s longest active points streak.
UP NEXT
Blue Jackets: Columbus stays for another game vs. Hurricanes on Saturday night.
Hurricanes: Carolina finishes a two-game homestand with Saturday night’s rematch.
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