Hurricanes storm back for comeback victory over Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets scored the first four goals of the game Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes and looked impressive in doing it.
Zach Werenski flipped in a slick backhander. Gustav Nyquist scored on a shorthanded breakaway. Rookie goalie Daniil Tarasov was stopping everything in net and the Blue Jackets’ Nationwide Arena was rumbling.
But just when it appeared the Canes might have a long day and a losing start to 2022, it all turned around. The Canes continued to attack and kept pushing, scoring seven unanswered goals for a 7-4 victory that left the Blue Jackets feeling they had been hit by a cannon blast.
Forward Steven Lorentz scored twice. Defenseman Brady Skjei scored twice. Nino Niederreiter and Ethan Bear scored 16 seconds apart midway through the third period as the Canes surged into the lead, and Andrei Svechnikov capped off a strong game with an empty-net score as the Canes (23-7-1) piled up five third-period goals.
As Lorentz put it, “The flood gates opened up.”
Goaltending changes were critical. The Canes lifted starter Antti Raanta after the opening period as Frederik Andersen, coming off COVOD protocol, played his first game since Dec. 18. Andersen made a sprawling stop on Boone Jenner with a four seconds left in the second period — smothering the puck after it hit the post — to keep the Canes within 4-2.
“Freddie came in and made a couple of saves right when the game was almost out of hand,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said.
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, who allowed four goals on 15 shots.
It was the second time in franchise history that the Canes had rallied from a four-goal deficit to win. The first: the Hartford Whalers vs Montreal in January 1989.
“It was kind of a whirlwind there, just watching them start going in,” Lorentz said.
The Canes dominated the third period of the Metropolitan Division game. The Blue Jackets (15-14-1) were limited to two shots while the Canes had 16 in finishing with a 49-18 advantage -- eight shots by Svechnikov and seven by Skjei.
“It’s like they had the puck in their pocket all night,” Columbus coach Brad Larsen said to the media after the game. “At 4-0 I never felt comfortable because of the way the game was played. That’s a really good hockey team that came coming and we had no answer for it. They’re a handful.”
Carolina had an 18-9 lead in shots and 33-12 edge in total attempts in the first period but trailed 3-0 as the Blue Jackets tested the Canes with odd-man rushes and got Nyquist’s breakaway shorty.
“It was a weird game,” Skjei said. “The first period we found ourselves down 3-0 and I thought we outplayed them, honestly, that we were all over them in their D zone. Just gave up a few Grade-A chances that they capitalized on.
“In the intermission we told ourselves to keep playing the way we were and the goals would come, and they definitely did. There was no question we would win. We didn’t expect to score seven, but we knew we’d get our goals and fight back into the game.”
Lorentz started the comeback at 9:11 of the second period by redirecting a Tony DeAngelo slap pass, and Skjei’s first goal made it a 4-2 game as Svechnikov had the setup pass.
Skjei scored again from the left circle in the third off a Brett Pesce pass, and Niederreiter tied it 4-4 by racing into the slot to collect a hard carom off a stanchion on the end boards and beating Merzlikins. Bear then winged a shot from the point at 10:50 of the third for the lead and Lorentz padded the lead by following up the rebound of a Seth Jarvis shot.
Skjei and Bear had each scored one goal this season before Saturday. But they delivered.
“We just stuck to our game plan and didn’t let their lead creep into our heads and into our game,” Lorentz said.
This story was originally published January 1, 2022 at 3:50 PM.
