Jones, Blue Jackets defeat Hurricanes in OT

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Seth Jones scored his second goal of the game with 51 seconds left in overtime to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Thursday.

"We needed someone to take control of the game for us. I thought he stood up and said, 'I'm going to be the guy tonight,'" Columbus coach John Tortorella said. "It's one of the better games I've seen him play since he's been here, at an important time."
Oliver Bjorkstrand had three assists for the Blue Jackets (12-12-7), who are 2-0-2 in the past four games. Joonas Korpisalo made 25 saves.
Jones won it with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle on a 2-on-1 rush with Jack Roslovic.
"Crossing the blue line, I thought (Hurricanes defenseman) [Dougie] Hamilton was in a pretty good spot," Jones said. "I looked pass first, and when I got to the top of the circle, I was thinking shot. With the ice not being the greatest, I just decided to put one on net."
Sebastian Aho scored two goals for the Hurricanes (20-7-2), who have lost two in a row after an eight-game winning streak. Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves.
"It could snowball, but I don't think it will," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "You have to fight for everything you get, and that's what happened tonight. We just weren't quite ready to dig in at the start of the game."

The teams will play the second of a four-game series here Saturday. The third and four games will be played at Columbus.
Jones gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 14:11 of the first period. He skated from the Columbus zone and fed Bjorkstrand for a shot before scoring on the rebound near the goal line.
Aho took a backhand pass from Nino Niederreiter in the left circle and scored on a snap shot to tie the game 1-1 at 51 seconds in the second period.
Korpisalo kept it tied at 12:57 when he made a diving stick save on Warren Foegele's shot at the right post.
"It comes from practice, never giving up on any puck," Korpisalo said. "It doesn't matter if it looks like an empty net, you try to stop the puck. It's just the battle level I have."

Aho gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead at 12:20 when he scored a power-play goal off a pass from Martin Necas. Hamilton got the second assist to extend his point streak to 10 games (two goals, 10 assists).
"We won a lot of pucks back in that power play, and obviously they were gassed," Aho said. "Necas made a nice play in the slot, and I just one-timed it."
Kevin Stenlund scored with a one-timer off a pass across the slot from Max Domi to tie it 2-2 at 17:50 of the second. Stenlund initially was listed as a scratch but was inserted into the lineup after forward Mikhail Grigorenko became ill.
"Obviously, it's a big boost for confidence, just at that part of the game," Stenlund said. "We were down 2-1, and it was a big goal for us."
Korpisalo made four saves in overtime, including on a redirection at the top of the crease by Jaccob Slavin at 23 seconds and against Necas on a breakaway at 3:07.
"He kept us at 2-1, (then) makes a couple big saves in overtime," Tortorella said. "They find a way."
NOTES: It was Jones' ninth overtime goal since entering the NHL in 2013-14, tied with Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks for the most among NHL defensemen in that span. … Zach Werenski had an assist on Jones' first goal to extend his point streak to five games (two goals, four assists). ... Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook played his 400th NHL game. … Hamilton is the eighth NHL defenseman in the past 20 years to have a point streak of at least 10 games.