RALEIGH, N.C. – Elias Lindholm is on a serious roll for the Carolina Hurricanes, and sometimes he doesn’t even have to look where he’s shooting.
Lindholm came through again on Friday night in Carolina’s 3-2 overtime win over the Columbus Blue jackets, scoring with 37.8 second left in extra time. It came on a 4-on-3 power play and was Carolina’s only success with the man advantage in seven tries in the game.
“The D-man took the pass away, so I shot it,” said Lindholm, who has three game-winning goals in four games. “I closed my eyes and shot it. Luckily, it went in.”
Lindholm’s offensive production has helped Carolina (4-6-2) win four straight after starting 0-6-2. He has points in each of the games.
Carolina captain Eric Staal said Lindholm needs to keep it going.
“Let’s ride that as long as we can,” Staal said. “It’s a lot more fun being on this side than the other. He’s been real good for us.”
Carolina coach Bill Peters said the Hurricanes are as healthy as they have been all season with the exception of missing Jordan Staal, who is out for three or four months with a broken leg. Having an almost complete lineup is making the difference, he said.
“The doom and gloom, I don’t think, ever got as bad as people think,” Peters said. “It now seems to be going our way a little bit, and now we’ve got to find a way again (against Washington).”
Scott Hartnell scored two goals for the Blue Jackets, who lost their seventh straight game. But Columbus (4-8-1) did earn a point in the standings as it played its first overtime game of the season.
Columbus coach Todd Richards said his team gave Carolina too many chances on the power play, again. Carolina had six power plays when the teams played on Tuesday but converted none.
“We have to eliminate the penalties,” Richards said. “You aren’t going to find ways to win hockey games. We can’t keep doing this.”
Carolina’s Victor Rask tied the game at 2-2 with 8:09 left in the third period with a shot through traffic. The Hurricanes then had to kill off a late penalty on Brett Bellemore, who took an interference penalty with 4:09 left in regulation, to send the game into overtime.
Carolina took the lead early in the second period. Jeff Skinner picked up a Columbus turnover deep in the Blue Jackets’ end and beat Curtis McElhinney at 2:43 for a 1-0 lead. It was his 99th career goal.
“Obviously, we ran into a little adversity at the beginning of the year, but we battled and worked through it,” Skinner said. “It’s nice to see it paying off, and we want to keep it rolling as long as we can.”
Then Hartnell came alive for the Blue Jackets, who have scored half of their 30 goals this season in the second period.
His first goal tied the game at 1-1 at 11:15. Hartnell gave the Blue Jackets the lead at 18:44 when he put a rebound by Carolina goalkeeper Cam Ward (4-3-1), who made his fifth straight start. Ward finished with 29 saves.
Hartnell also saved a goal behind McElhinney when he jumped into the crease and cut off a puck that deflected off the post. McElhinney (0-3-1) finished with 32 saves.
Carolina, which defeated the Blue Jackets in its last outing, continued to struggle on the power play against Columbus.
The Hurricanes had an apparent power-play goal waved off in the first period after a review determined that Alexander Semin interfered with McElhinney in the crease.
NOTES: Carolina scored the first goal of the game in its fourth straight outing. … Carolina D Tim Gleason was out of the lineup with an undisclosed upper body injury. … Columbus D Jack Johnson served the first of game of a three-game suspension for a check to the head of Carolina’s Jiri Tlusty on Tuesday.
Leave a Reply