Micheal Ferland one-timed a pass from Aho to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 5:16 of the first period.
"[Aho] is one of the best," Ferland said. "He's a special player. You've just got to be ready at all times, have your stick on the ice and get yourself in a shooting position."
Dougie Hamilton made it 2-0 at 6:38 off a pass from McKegg, who last played an NHL game Nov. 27, 2017 for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Saku Maenalanen, playing his third NHL game, got an assist for his first point.
McKegg cut to the slot and redirected a pass from Brett Pesce to extend the lead to 3-0 at 6:52 of the second period. It was McKegg's first multipoint game in 92 NHL games.
Joonas Korpisalo relieved Sergei Bobrovsky, who made 13 saves. Korpisalo did not allow a goal facing 14 shots.
The Blue Jackets scored two goals in 25 seconds to make it 3-2. Bjorkstrand scored on a wrist shot under the crossbar at 15:40 of the second, and Panarin got to a loose puck in the right face-off circle at 16:05.
Columbus had won six of seven but has lost two of three.
"We knew we had better, that's all I want to say about that," Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones said. "It was our lack of pace, our lack of decision-making."
Aho scored into an empty net with two seconds remaining to make it 4-2.
"Every part of our game was pretty solid," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "You could see their high-end players took over for a couple minutes and they got themselves back in the game, but I thought we came back in the third and played fairly well."
