Blue Jackets' Comeback Falls Short in 3-2 Loss at Carolina After Two Straight Overtime Wins

Denton Mateychuk and Kent Johnson scored in the third period, but the Columbus Blue Jackets could not erase a three-goal deficit and lost 3-2 at Carolina on Thursday night, ending a two-game winning streak.

By EditorOctober 30, 2026

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson skates during a game against the Seattle Kraken in Seattle on January 28, 2024. — Photo: Jenn G via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Columbus Blue Jackets scored twice in the third period but could not climb out of a three-goal hole, falling 3-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night at Lenovo Center in Raleigh. The loss ended a two-game winning streak built on back-to-back overtime wins and dropped Columbus to 5-6-0.

Carolina scored the game's first three goals. Jordan Martinook opened the scoring at 15:51 of the first period, with assists from Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin. Logan Stankoven doubled the lead at 7:47 of the second, his ninth goal of the season, from Nikolaj Ehlers and Jackson Blake. Mark Jankowski made it 3-0 just 16 seconds into the third period, his seventh, with Jarvis and Jalen Chatfield assisting.

Columbus answered twice in a span of three minutes. Denton Mateychuk cut the deficit at 6:56 of the third, his fourth goal of the season, with assists from Jake Christiansen and Sean Monahan. Kent Johnson pulled the Blue Jackets within one at 9:50 on the power play, his seventh, set up by Charlie Coyle and Zach Werenski. The equalizer never came over the final 10 minutes, including the stretch after Jet Greaves went to the bench for an extra attacker.

Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 24 of 26 shots for Carolina and was named the game's first star. Greaves made 24 saves on 27 shots for Columbus. Carolina held a 27-26 edge in shots on goal. Jarvis, with two assists, and Jankowski were the second and third stars.

The loss followed two of the Blue Jackets' most dramatic results of the young season. On Saturday, Mateychuk scored in the first period and Adam Fantilli won it 59 seconds into overtime in a 2-1 home win over Vegas. On Tuesday in Philadelphia, Columbus led 3-0 after the first period on goals by Fantilli, Johnson and Mateychuk, watched the Flyers tie it with 11 seconds left in regulation, and still won 4-3 when Johnson scored 2:22 into overtime.

Columbus continues its road trip on Saturday at Dallas, with an 8 p.m. ET start, then returns to Nationwide Arena to host Colorado on Tuesday and Dallas on Thursday. Both home games start at 7 p.m. ET.

Scoring, goaltending and shot figures are from the NHL's official game report.