The Carolina Hurricanes, who won a lot of games in the calendar year of 2021, appeared headed to a losing start to 2022.
The Columbus Blue Jackets led 4-0 midway through the second period Saturday at Nationwide Arena. Rookie goalie Daniil Tarasov was stopping everything for the Jackets. Gustav Nyquist had a short-handed goal and Columbus was rolling along nicely.
But the Hurricanes, showing resilience, refused to go down. Displaying their explosiveness, showing off their skill, the Canes scored twice in the second period, then five times in the third for a 7-4 victory.
Defenseman Brady Skjei and forward Steven Lorentz each had two goals for the Canes (23-7-1) in the comeback. Nino Niederreiter and Ethan Bear scored 16 seconds apart in the third, pushing Carolina in front 6-4, and Andrei Svechnikov had an empty-net goal late to finish it off.
"It obviously feels good, starting the new year right," Lorentz said.
Make it seven unanswered goals for Carolina. The home crowd at Nationwide Arena could only sit in stunned silence.
Goaltending changes were critical. The Canes lifted starter Antti Raanta after the opening period as Frederik Andersen, coming off COVID-19 protocol, played his first game since Dec. 18. Andersen made a sprawling pad save on Boone Jenner with a few seconds left in the second period to keep the Canes within 4-2.
Tarasov was forced out of the game by an injury after the second period. In came Elvis Merzlikins, but it would be a nightmarish third for the Columbus goalie as he gave up four goals on 15 shots.
Skjei twice scored on shots from the left circle off setup passes from Svechnikov, then Brett Pesce after a faceoff win. Lorentz redirected a Tony DeAngelo slap pass for his first goal and the Canes' initial goal in the second period, then followed up the rebound of a Seth Jarvis shot in the third.
Niederreiter's goal, at 10:34 of the third, pushed the Canes ahead 5-4 as the forward bolted in to collect a hard carom off the end boards. Bear scored on a shot from the point.
Svechnikov, who had a strong game, finished it off with his empty-netter.
Talk about worthless stats: the Canes had an 18-9 lead in shots and 33-12 edge in total attempts after the first period.
The Canes had good offensive zone time but were caught flatfooted in their own zone in the first. Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski came off the bench, blew past Pesce in the left circle and beat Raanta with a backhander.
Columbus' struck for a short-handed goal for its 3-0 lead after the first. The Canes' Teuvo Teravainen, so good at handling the puck, had it swiped by the Jackets' Alexandre Texier along the boards. Texier flipped the puck out of the Columbus zone to Nyquist for the breakaway and score.
But the Canes would not be denied.
