Foligno leaves game after questionable hit, Jackets lose 4-1
RALEIGH, N.C (AP) -- Elias Lindholm scored twice, Cam Ward made 35 saves and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 on Friday night.
Lindholm put Carolina ahead 2-1 on a slap shot with 5:25 left in the second period, then added an empty-net goal with 1:01 remaining. Jordan Staal and Chris Terry also scored for the Hurricanes, and Kris Versteeg had two assists, giving him 299 NHL points.
Brandon Dubinsky scored for Columbus, and Anton Forsberg made 25 saves.
Defenseman Seth Jones made his first appearance with Columbus since a trade from Nashville on Wednesday and played in his 100th NHL game.
Columbus' Nick Foligno left early in the third after a hard hit from the Hurricanes' Brad Malone.
This was the opener of a back-to-back, and the teams will play in Columbus on Saturday night.
Staal put the Hurricanes ahead on a power play at 16:09 of the first by redirecting Jaccob Slavin's pass from the right point for his ninth of the season.
Columbus evened the score on a 5-on-3 power play at 9:41 of the second. Dubinsky banked the puck perfectly off Carolina defenseman John-Michael Liles' left skate from right of the crease and past Ward. Foligno had the secondary helper.
The Hurricanes killed off a second 5-on-3 of 1:25 later in the period, during which David Savard hit the right post on a rocket from the right point.
Lindholm put the Hurricanes ahead by knocking down Noah Hanifin's shot with his stick in the slot to bounce the puck past Forsberg.
Terry buried the rebound from his own shot to make it 3-1 at 9:20 of the third.
Malone and Dubinsky got 5-minute fighting majors 2 seconds later.
NOTES: After the rematch, the Hurricanes host Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. ... Hurricanes LW Phil DiGiuseppe (concussion) missed his third straight game while C Victor Rask (upper body) was also scratched. D Michal Jordan was a healthy scratch. ... Columbus D Kevin Connauton, D Justin Falk and D Dalton Prout were healthy scratches. ... Following Saturday, the teams' other meetings this season will be on March 24 at Columbus and April 2 in Raleigh.
