Alex Zachman
Goaltender Scott Darling watches play after deflecting a shot on goal in the second period against Columbus at PNC Arena on Saturday. Darling made 35 saves against 36 shots on goal. The Canes won 2-1 for Darling's first career win against Columbus.
For the first time in the 2017-18 season, the Carolina Hurricanes have themselves a three-game winning streak. The Canes grinded out a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday at PNC Arena for their third-straight victory.
Forward Jordan Staal and defenseman Noah Hanifin scored for Carolina (14-11-7) against the Jackets (20-12-1). Goalie Scott Darling played perhaps his best game in a Hurricanes uniform, stopping 35 of 36 Blue Jackets shots, several of them 10-bell saves.
“I felt really good tonight,” Darling said. “I felt confident. You get into it. I haven’t had a lot of games where I’ve had a lot of shots that early so it got me into the game and I knew I was seeing the puck well.”
The Canes took a 1-0 lead less than four minutes in; forward Jordan Staal took a puck from the corner and threw it into the crease, where Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson, who was battling with Canes forward Brock McGinn, inadvertently knocked it in.
“It was a tight game,” Staal said. “That’s a good team that doesn’t give you much. The score showed it. Even the chances, I don’t think there was too many on either side. It’s a tight game against that team. I thought we did a good job sticking with it.”
The Jackets tied it at one with 7:59 left in the first, as forward Alexander Wennberg was left all alone in front of the net and tipped a pass from forward Cam Atkinson through Darling’s legs.
Darling was a huge factor in the Canes taking a tie game to the second intermission, stopping 15 shots as the Blue Jackets doubled up Carolina 16-8 in that regard in the opening frame.
“He gave us a chance to build a game,” Peters said. “They outshot us there 2-1 and had some zone time. It looked like a little bit of a fatigued team at that time, and then we built a game and got better. Credit for him to give us that opportunity.”
The Canes came inches from taking the lead back with about three and a half minutes left in the opening frame, but a clapper from the point by defenseman Brett Pesce rang off the post and out.
Carolina got another golden chance midway through the second with a three-on-one rush, but Bobrovsky flashed across to make the pad save on forward Josh Jooris.
The team did take the lead just a minute and change later, as on a 4 on 4 sequence, defenseman Noah Hanifin tipped a pass from forward Derek Ryan off Bobrovsky’s pad and knocked in his own rebound to make it 2-1.
“It was a good bounce,” Hanifin said. “But it was a good overall effort, especially on a 4-on-4.”
Darling saved one of his best stops of the game for late in the third, twice denying Jackets forward Nick Foligno in tight to keep Carolina ahead. The Blue Jackets pulled Bobrovsky for an extra skater late, but the Canes held on, winning a tight one for the third-straight game after overtime wins in Vegas and Buffalo earlier this week.
“We’ve got 50 games left,” Peters said. “That’s a lot of hockey. How high of quality can we play over the next 50. That’s the intriguing thing and the exciting thing for me. I think we can get to a real high level.”
The Canes will hit the road for a rare 2 p.m. puck drop against the Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday afternoon