COLUMBUS, Ohio — Teuvo Teravainen scored the game’s first goal less than a minute into the second period, Spencer Martin stopped 20 shots against his former team and the Carolina Hurricanes rolled to 4-2 win over the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.
Sebastian Aho, Brady Skjei and Seth Jarvis also tallied for the Hurricanes, who won for the second time in three days and sixth time in their last eight games. Martin, who was claimed off waivers from Columbus on Jan. 19, improved to 4-0-1 for Carolina.
“I was trying to work myself up to stick it to them, basically,” said Martin, who started 10 games for Columbus. “But at the end of the day, I really enjoyed my time here. Especially seeing those guys during warmups. There’s no hate or anything like that. It was actually really fun.”
Said Skjei: “Every game he’s played for us so far has been really rock solid.”
Alexander Nylander had a goal and assist, his first points with Columbus. Cole Sillinger also scored, and Daniil Tarasov made 28 saves for the Blue Jackets, who lost on the road to the New York Rangers 4-1 in the first leg of a back-to-back on Wednesday.
The Metropolitan Division rivals are headed in opposite directions. The second-place Hurricanes have been rolling since December and are chasing the Rangers, while Columbus is mired in last with diminishing chances of moving up.
After a scoreless first period, Teravainen scored his 18th goal of the year 53 seconds into second, jumping on a loose puck on the doorstep and sliding it between Tarasov’s legs.
Later in the second, Aho got credit for a goal after his shot from the right circle bounced off a Blue Jacket player’s skate and pinballed over the goal line. Less than two minutes later, Sillinger, set up nicely by Zach Werenski on a rush, ripped a shot under Martin’s arm to make it 2-1.
Skjei gave Carolina a two-goal lead late in the second when the defenseman got ahead on a rush and poked a one-handed shot through Tarasov’s pads. Brent Burns, playing in his 821st straight game, picked up the secondary assist. That’s the longest active streak and eighth longest in NHL history.
“I mean, there were areas where we probably could have been a little better, but for the most part, we knew when we got pucks behind their defense we would be successful — and that showed,” Skjei said.
Nylander’s top-shelf wrist shot on a power play made it a one-goal game in the third period. Jarvis got an empty-net goal with 14.2 seconds left.
Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent lamented the lack of shots, just four in the first period and eight in the third.
“A few times we were looking for the next play instead of shooting the puck,” he said. “When you have a chance to shoot it, you have to shoot it.”
The Hurricanes host Winnipeg on Saturday.
Maple Leafs acquire Lyubushkin from Ducks in 3-team trade involving Hurricanes
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin from the Anaheim Ducks in a three-team trade involving Carolina.
Anaheim received Toronto’s third-round pick in 2025 in the deal announced Thursday night, while Carolina gets Toronto’s sixth-round pick in the 2024 draft. The Ducks will pay 50% of Lyubushkin’s remaining salary this season, while the Hurricanes will pay an additional 25%.
Toronto also got the reserve rights to KHL forward Kirill Slepets from Carolina in the deal.
Lyubushkin has no goals and four assists with a minus-13 rating in 55 games this season for the Ducks, who acquired him from Buffalo last August for a fourth-round draft pick. The veteran Russian has been most valuable as a mentor to Pavel Mintyukov, Anaheim’s promising 20-year-old Russian defenseman.
Lyubushkin will provide depth on the blue line for the Maple Leafs, who first acquired him in a trade with Arizona in February 2022. Lyubushkin scored six points in 31 games for Toronto and added another assist in seven postseason games before he left for Buffalo as a free agent that summer.
Lyubushkin is a stay-at-home defenseman and a right-handed shot who is likely to fill in for injured Mark Giordano in the near future while Toronto continues its playoff push.
The Ducks could be offloading additional veterans with expiring contracts as they finish up what is all but certain to be their franchise-record sixth consecutive non-playoff season. Veteran forward Adam Henrique has figured prominently in trade rumors in recent weeks.
