The Columbus Blue Jackets left Raleigh with the same problem that’s been following them on the road early this season: too much ground to make up, not enough time to finish the job.
Carolina grabbed the lead early, built on it, and held off a late Columbus push for a 3-2 win last night at Lenovo Arena. The loss drops the Blue Jackets to 5-6-0, and while the final score looks tight, the game was tilted Carolina’s way for most of the night.
The Hurricanes got the first punch in the opening period when Jordan Martinook worked through a Blue Jackets defense that looked slow to sort itself out and slipped one past Jet Greaves glove side. Columbus had a tough time claiming the slot and the middle of the ice in those opening minutes, and the backcheck looked scattered on the first goal.
The Jackets were a little sharper in the second period, creating some better looks and getting movement around Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov on a Matthew Knies wrap-around, but they still couldn’t crack him. Then Logan Stankoven finished a play from Nik Ehlers in the middle of the ice, getting it under the stick of Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson and past Greaves blocker side to make it 2-0 with more than 12 minutes left in the period.
That middle frame was rough on the Columbus blue line as a whole. Zach Werenski and Severson both got stuck watching Ehlers too long on the sequence, and it hurt them. For a team that leans so heavily on its defensemen to jump-start the offense, the first two periods were a mess.
Carolina extended the lead just 16 seconds into the third when Seth Jarvis beat Severson behind the net and fed Mark Jankowski in the slot for the game-winner.
That’s when Columbus finally found its push.
Jake Christiansen set up Denton Mateychuk with a sharp cross-ice pass, and Mateychuk blasted a snap shot past Kochetkov to get the Blue Jackets on the board. Not long after, the Hurricanes started piling up penalties, and Columbus made one count. After Sean Walker went off for tripping, Kent Johnson had a leg deflect a Charlie Coyle pass behind Kochetkov and into the net to cut it to 3-2.
Power play goal for Columbus!
Scored by Kent Johnson with 10:10 left in the 3rd. Assisted by Charlie Coyle and Zach Werenski.
CAR: 3 | CBJ: 2 #CBJvsCAR #CarolinaCulture #CBJ pic.twitter.com/RD9MP42jrc
- NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 30, 2026
The comeback bid had some life, but not enough of it. Columbus couldn’t get another one through before the final horn, and the trip continued with a loss before heading on to Dallas.
There were positives to take from the third period, and the Blue Jackets looked much more like themselves at the end than they did early. The young core of Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli and Denton Mateychuk kept showing signs of life, and the defense bounced back as the night wore on. Charlie Coyle said after the game that the team wants to carry that energy into Saturday in Dallas.
"“If we play a full game like we did in the second and third, we love the way we play. You’re not going to win every time like that. But we’re going to win more games than we lose when we play that way.”"
Next up for Columbus is Saturday against the Stars in Dallas.
In Other News...
Blue Jackets Got Caught In Another Brutal Hurricanes Trend
The Blue Jackets ran into a Carolina team that has been piling up wins at a pace few clubs can match, and the latest meeting fit the pattern. On October 29, the Hurricanes slipped past Columbus 3-2, pushing their season total to 11 victories and keeping them atop the NHL standings with 24 points while extending a five-game point streak.
Pyotr Kochetkov was once again at the center of it for Carolina, continuing a start that has put him in rare franchise company and given the Hurricanes a steady edge in close games. Columbus made a push late, but the bigger picture was familiar: Carolina has been finding ways to control the night early, then lean on its goaltending and structure when opponents try to claw back. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Showed Late Fight After Another Costly Start
Another rough start left the Blue Jackets chasing the game again, and this time the margin proved just a little too steep. Columbus fell 3-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes, with Jet Greaves stopping 24 of 27 shots as the club tried to steady itself after a slow opening and keep its road trip from slipping further off track.
The push came late, with Denton Mateychuk and Kent Johnson providing the offense as Columbus made things interesting in the third period. Even so, the Blue Jackets could not fully erase the early damage, and the result left them at 5-6-0 heading into the next stop in Dallas. [Read more 🡒]