CAR 5, CBJ 2: Hurricanes’ Power Play Storm Overwhelms Blue Jackets

By Will Chase on March 31, 2026 at 10:55 pm
Mar 31, 2026; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (4) celebrates his goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the first period at Nationwide Arena.
© Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
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The slide continues.

  1 2 3 F
CAR 2 0 3 5
CBJ 0 1 1 2

CBJ GOALS: 
Kirill Marchenko (1st, 15:14)
Adam Fantilli (3rd, 2:07)

The storm surge was too much as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena.

The power play was the story for the Hurricanes as they went three-for-five on the night. Shayne Gostisbehere scored at 13:29 of the first period, and Logan Stankoven tallied at 16:12 of the frame. Andrei Svechnikov's insurance marker in the third period was the third goal on the man advantage. Nikolaj Ehlers scored and had two assists, and Jordan Martinook scored.

Brandon Bussi made 23 saves.

For Columbus, Kirill Marchenko stopped an eight-game goalless drought in the second period at 15:14. Adam Fantilli stopped a six-game drought with his 22nd goal 2:07 into the third period. Jet Greaves made 26 stops.

Mathieu Olivier left Sunday's game with an upper-body injury and is considered week-to-week. Head coach Rick Bowness said he'll miss at least a couple of weeks. Miles Wood was hit in the face with a puck that a teammate shot off the crossbar, but he did play. Mason Marchment and Ivan Provorov collided late in the game in the Jackets' offensive zone. Both were slow getting up as Provorov took the worst of it. 

If there's any positive on the night, everyone behind the Blue Jackets in the standings lost, so the Blue Jackets will keep possession of the second Eastern Conference wild card spot. The Florida Panthers defeated the Ottawa Senators 6-3, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-1, and the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-4. The New York Islanders will stay one point ahead of Columbus as they lost to the Buffalo Sabres 4-3.

"There's a lot of fight in this room," head coach Rick Bowness said. "There's no quit in them.

"Five-on-five, we love our play. Clearly, penalty kill is an issue, and we gotta clean that up.

"Again, the effort is there. Guys are putting it all out, and that's all we ask. We'll live and die with being aggressive."

Here's how the Jackets' slide continued as the season winds down to the end:

1st Period:

(13:29 — CAR Goal): Gostisbehere scored the goal, and the play happened because of a savvy dump-in just before the goal. Seth Jarvis beat Greaves to the puck, who dished the puck to the perimeter, and Carolina cycled the puck around before Gostisbehere slammed it home.

Nikolaj Ehlers (39) and Svechnikov (37) got the assists.

(16:12 — CAR Goal): Stankoven extended the lead from the slot. Mark Jankowski picked up assist no. 10.

(15:14 — CBJ Goal): The Jackets finally solved Bussi. It just took a few minutes to be sure.

With Columbus fighting for offense of late, they had to work for their first goal and then get a little luck from a review by the officials before it was determined the puck crossed the goal line.

A scramble in front of the net, Marchenko was credited with his 26th goal. Zach Werenski broke a three-game scoreless drought with his 57th assist. Marchment added his 21st helper.

(2:07 — CBJ Goal): Fantilli added life for the Jackets with his tying goal early in the third period. His 22nd goal was assisted by Marchment, who picked up his 22nd assist and second of the game. Marchenko added his second point with his 37th assist.

(12:42 — CAR Goal): Ehlers broke the tie, his goal the eventual game-winner for the 'Canes. Jalen Chatfield (15) and Jaccob Slavin (5) got the assists.

The Blue Jackets challenged for goaltender interference but lost the challenge. This set up the fifth power play for Carolina on the night.

(13:55 — CAR Goal): They, in turn, scored their third power play goal. Svechnikov's 27th was assisted by Ehlers (40) and Sebastian Aho (50). With a three-point night, Ehlers has 64 points this season, matching a career high from 2016-17. He also has his first career 40-assist season.

CAR GAME STATS CBJ
31 SHOTS 25
75 SHOT ATTEMPTS 52
32 SCORING CHANCES 30
14 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 13
60.7% FACEOFF PERCENTAGE 39.3%
3/5 POWER PLAY 0/3
3/3 PENALTY KILL 2/5
18 HITS 23
16 GIVEAWAYS 13
5 TAKEAWAYS 4
10 BLOCKED SHOTS 15

Stat Chat:

  • Columbus finished the month of March 9-4-4, finishing the month on a 1-4-1 slide.
     
  • Fantilli (seven goals, nine assists) and Marchenko (six goals, 10 assists) co-led the Blue Jackets in scoring for March.
     
  • Provorov has played 239 consecutive games with the Blue Jackets, tying with Pierre-Luc Dubois for fourth all-time in Blue Jackets franchise history. Antoine Vermette (241) is third, and Jason Chimera (243) is second.

Up Next:

These two teams will do battle again from Raleigh when the Jackets and Hurricanes complete the home-and-home on Thursday from Lenovo Center. Puck drop will be at 7 p.m.

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