Hurricanes defeat Blue Jackets, win fourth in row to start season

COLUMBUS-- The Carolina Hurricanes won their fourth straight game to start the season, 5-1 against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Saturday.

Vincent Trocheck scored his first two goals of the season, and Jordan Staal scored and had an assist for Carolina. Frederik Andersen made 27 saves and has won each of his first four games with the Hurricanes after leaving the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent.
"He's been phenomenal," Trocheck said. "He's kept us in all these games that we've had a lot of flurries in the defensive zone.
"We're not usually the team that gets up so many Grade-A chances, but when we have these last few games, he's stepped up, and that's been a big part of the reason why we're winning games."
Boone Jenner scored, and Joonas Korpisalo made 28 saves for Columbus (3-2-0), which lost for the first time in four home games.

"That was a really good hockey team we played tonight," Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. "They make you make plays. You have to be on your game against them, you can't give them anything free. There's not a lot of holes in that team."
Jesper Fast gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 7:11 of the first period. The forecheck forced a turnover and Staal was below the goal line when he passed to the low slot.
"They are an aggressive team, all good skaters," Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist said. "Give them the benefit. They made it hard tonight on us."
Trocheck extended it to 2-0 at 13:35, seven seconds into a double-minor for high sticking by Vladimir Gavrikov. Trocheck was in front of the net when a shot by Andrei Svechnikov deflected off his body for his first goal since April 15, 2021, a span of 18 games.
Jenner made it 2-1 at 7:19 of the second period, scoring 11 seconds into a two-man advantage for his fourth goal, third on the power play. He has scored in three straight games.
Carolina took a 3-1 lead at 15:57 on a Staal power-play goal. He scored his first of the season on a rebound of a Brett Pesce shot.

"Back half of the second period, we were putting some shifts together," Larsen said. "Their power-play goal took the wind out of our sails."
Sebastian Aho made it 4-1 at 7:05 of the third period with a power-play goal. He has six points (three goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak.
The Hurricanes were 3-for-6 on the power play. The Blue Jackets were 1-for-4.
"You get that many penalties you are shooting yourself in the foot. You've got to play them 5-on-5," Larsen said.
Trocheck scored on a backhand at 16:13 to make it 5-1.
"I thought the special teams were big," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We killed a lot of penalties and then we got some power-play goals, which was huge, but I didn't love our overall 5-on-5 game. We just had too many turnovers, which led to some really good chances for them."
NOTES: Svechnikov extended his point streak to four games (four goals, three assists) but had a three-game goal streak end. ... Carolina tied the 1995-96 team for the franchise's second longest win streak to start a season. The Hurricanes won five straight to start the 2019-20 season. ... Jakub Voracek got his 100th assist with the Blue Jackets in his 246th game. The forward has at least one assist in three straight games. He played his first three NHL seasons for Columbus (2008-11). He was traded this offseason (for forward Cam Atkinson) after playing 10 seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers.