RALEIGH, N.C. _ For the first five games of the season, the Carolina Hurricanes knew nothing but winning.
Now, the Canes must deal with their first loss.
The Columbus Blue Jackets, looking to jumpstart their season, rolled into PNC Arena, put in 60 minutes of work Saturday and left with a 3-2 victory over the Canes.
The Hurricanes' 5-0 start was the best in franchise history while the Blue Jackets had lost three of their first four games. But Columbus was the better team Saturday.
Pierre-Luc Dubois gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead at 1:15 of the third period. After a turnover by the Canes' Brock McGinn near the Carolina blue line, Dubois first beat McGinn down the ice and then goalie James Reimer for the score.
Erik Haula and Dougie Hamilton scored for the Canes, continuing their early season tears. It was 1-1 after the first period and 2-2 after two in a grinding game as defenseman Markus Nutivaara and forward Oliver Bjorkstrand scored for Columbus.
Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo, starting in back-to-back games, got the job done in the third for a team that has gone through a makeover since last season. Korisalo had 30 saves.
Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour was hoping for a repeat of Friday's game, a decisive 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders. The Canes were the faster, more aggressive team, completely shutting down the Islanders in the third period.
But the Blue Jackets, coming off a 2-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, were active, disruptive, preventing the Canes from getting a transition game going. They were quick to pucks and won stick and puck battles, especially in a strong second period.
For the first two periods, it was punch, counter-punch.
In the first, Nutivaara's first goal of the season _ the defenseman all alone on the backdoor for a tap-in _ gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead. That lasted 27 seconds.
The Canes' passing was at its best in a quick-strike sequence, the puck going from Hamilton to Martin Necas to Ryan Dzingel and finally to Haula, who was unchecked in the slot. Haula's goal was his fifth in six games and it was tied 1-1.
In the second, it was the Canes' turn to take the lead and lose it. In 17 seconds.
After Korpisalo lost his paddle, Hamilton unloaded a shot off a Jaccob Slavin pass that Korpisalo had no chance of stopping. It was Hamilton's fourth of the season.
But Bkorkstrand had the answer for the Blue Jackets, carrying the puck into the slot, turning and whipping a shot that Reimer couldn't track or stop.
The Blue Jackets had a chance to take the lead late in the second but the Canes killed it off the Haydn Fleury penalty.
There was scary moment involving Fleury in the first period. The defenseman fell and went head-first into the boards after being hooked by the Blue Jackets' Alexandre Texier in the Carolina zone. Fleury was helped off the ice and to the locker room but soon returned.
The Canes announced before the game that defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk had been activated off non-roster injured reserve. Van Riemsdyk underwent shoulder surgery after being injured in the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring and was kept out of contact work during training camp.
