Tokarski makes 27 saves, Hurricanes top Blue Jackets

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Dustin Tokarski made 27 saves for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Lenovo Center on Sunday.

The 35-year-old goalie was making his first NHL start since Feb. 18, 2023, with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Hurricanes on Dec. 2, one month after he signed a professional tryout contract with Chicago of the American Hockey League.

“Just like any other game, that’s how you have to treat it,” Tokarski said. “Just do the work that got me to this point and try to translate it onto the ice tonight. Fortunately it did, and the guys played awesome in front of me.”

Tokarski, who is playing for his sixth NHL team, had served as the backup to Pyotr Kochetkov the previous four games.

“I’ve been going day-to-day for the last 30 days, and I’m going to keep doing that," Tokarski said. "But (I’m) grateful for the opportunity, grateful for the belief. I’m enjoying it. Can’t complain one bit.”

Jordan Martinook had a goal and an assist, and Jordan Staal had two assists for the Hurricanes (19-10-1), who had lost two of three.

“Our goalie was great tonight,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “You could see that nothing really fazed him. He made some subtle puck touches behind the net to our defense, things that kind of go unnoticed. All around, I thought he was the difference tonight.

“We understand how hard it is to get in this league, and then to stay around, that’s a testament to him to hang in there. It’s a great story. Hopefully it continues. It’s a good start here. I’m happy for him, and I know the guys are really happy for him, too.”

Dmitri Voronkov scored for the Blue Jackets (12-14-5), who have lost four in a row (0-2-2) and seven of their past eight (1-5-2). Elvis Merzlikins made 24 saves.

“We were really happy with the effort,” Columbus coach Dean Evason said. “We felt we worked tonight. (We) caught a couple bad breaks.”

Carolina scored a short-handed goal at 8:28 of the first period to take a 1-0 lead. Seth Jarvis knocked the puck away from Cole Sillinger at the defensive blue line, skated in on a 2-on-1 rush, and passed to Sebastian Aho, who beat Merzlikins with a wrist shot from the left circle.

“It’s a fast game out there and mistakes happen,” Columbus defenseman Dante Fabbro said. “The biggest thing is how you respond to things like that, to adversity. You’ve just got to put your foot in the ground and push back.”

William Carrier made it 2-0 at 19:08. Staal skated around the net and passed out front to Carrier, who slid a backhand inside the right post.

“I knew it was coming, I knew he was going to do that," Carrier said. "Half the time you pick left, [the puck] goes right, or right and it goes left. This time it was a good pick.”

Voronkov cut it to 2-1 at 15:52 of the second period. Kirill Marchenko warded off Sean Walker below the goal line and sent a backhand pass to Voronkov for a quick shot in the low slot.

“When we got down, it’s tough to come back because they put a lot of pressure on you,” Evason said. “Having said that, we still had some good looks to score in key areas of the game.”

Martinook pushed the lead to 3-1 at 17:16 when he redirected Staal’s one-timer from just inside the blue line.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi made it 4-1 at 6:19 of the third period. He took a pass from Martin Necas at the blue line, toe-dragged Fabbro at the top of the left circle, and scored glove side with a snap shot.

“Obviously, we’ve been trying to figure it out a little bit here,” Martinook said. “We have a good game and then have an off game. I feel like that one was more of how it looks and how we play. Everyone was pulling on the same rope.”

NOTES: Columbus was 0-for-5 on the power play. Carolina was 0-for-3. ... Necas' assist on Kotkaniemi's goal was his 30th of the season. He is the second player in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history to get 30 assists in the first 30 games of a season, joining Ron Francis (1982-83).