Andrei Svechnikov scored his first goal of the season to give the Carolina Hurricanes, who erased a two-goal deficit in the final 10 minutes, a 3-2 victory against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday at Raleigh, N.C.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Brady Skjei also scored for the Hurricanes, who were in danger of losing back-to-back home games. Seth Jarvis had assists on the final two goals.
Svechnikov, an All-Star selection last season, didn’t score in any of his first 11 games as his season debut was delayed as he recovered from knee surgery following an injury last season. Sebastian Aho set him up with a pass and Svechnikov delivered from the slot.
Pyotr Kochetkov made 21 saves for the Hurricanes. He was the backup to Antti Raanta on Friday night, when Carolina surrendered eight goals across the final two periods.
The Blue Jackets’ Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist and Kirill Marchenko scored the game’s first goal in the third period. The Blue Jackets had won their two previous games.
Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins had baffled the Hurricanes through two periods and appeared potentially on his way to a second career shutout of Carolina. He ended up with 40 saves.
Kotkaniemi scored with 9:59 remaining in regulation for the Hurricanes to begin the comeback.
Skjei scored with 3:09 remaining in regulation after Carolina failed to convert on a power play shortly after cutting the deficit to 2-1. Svechnikov delivered his eighth assist on the tying goal.
There was no scoring through two periods, but that changed in a hurry.
Marchenko scored first just 13 seconds into the third period for his sixth goal of the season.
Gaudreau’s goal came when it deflected off the back of Skjei, a defenseman. So Gaudreau was credited with his third goal this season.
Kotkaniemi answered shortly after another stellar save by Merzlikins kept the Hurricanes off the board. It marked Kotkaniemi’s seventh goal, but his first in six games.
–Field Level Media
