Big third period leads Hurricanes past Blue Jackets 3-2

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Carolina looked sluggish for two periods. Then, the Hurricanes found enough of a burst to grab two points in Columbus.

Victor Rask, Chris Terry and Elias Lindholm each scored goals within 1:38 of each other in the third period, Eddie Lack made 42 saves and the Hurricanes beat the Blue Jackets 3-2 on Thursday night.

''I thought in the power play, we were moving the puck pretty well and had some chances,'' Lindholm said. ''Then, Rask scored right after it and we got some momentum after that and had three goals. It was big.''

The loss by Columbus, coupled with a 4-3 victory by Detroit, mathematically eliminated the Blue Jackets from playoff contention with eight games left.

Columbus controlled the first two-thirds of the game and outshot Carolina 29-14 through the first 40 minutes, but a brief run of mental errors proved fatal.

''Just some mistakes cost us,'' Columbus coach John Tortorella said.

With Carolina leading 3-1, Lack halted a wraparound attempt by Boone Jenner with his left leg pad. Jenner pushed the puck over the line after a series of swipes, however, to cut Carolina's lead to one at 4:03 of the third.

The Jackets could not net an equalizer despite pulling goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky with 90 seconds remaining.

Trailing 1-0, the Hurricanes tied it just 52 seconds into the third period on Rask's shot when Bobrovsky missed grabbing the puck with his glove hand as it sailed by him. The goal came shortly after a Carolina power play expired, flipping the momentum to the Hurricanes.

Carolina took the lead when Terry beat Bobrovsky on a breakaway 2:19 into the period. Just 11 seconds later, Lindholm made it 3-1.

''It's disappointing,'' Foligno said. ''A momentary lapse like that and there's three goals.''

That is all it took for Carolina to pick up the two points.

''We have to find a way to limit those,'' Columbus captain Nick Foligno said. ''They get one and they can't get another one. That's on us. We've been fighting with that all year. We've gotten better with it, but it's crept back in.''

Columbus had multiple opportunities to tie it as the clock approached zero, but Brandon Dubinsky sent a shot off the post and Alexander Wennberg missed an open net.

''We had some opportunities,'' Tortorella said. ''Dubinsky hits the post, Wennberg has an open net and gets his stick checked out. The other night, we win a crazy one. Tonight, we lose a crazy one.''

Bobrovsky finished with 21 saves for the Blue Jackets, who beat Philadelphia 3-2 in a shootout Tuesday after netting two goals in the final 1:04 of regulation.

Matt Calvert tipped a shot by Dalton Prout over Lack's left shoulder and into the net at 17:25 of the second to give Columbus its lone lead of the game at 1-0.

Carolina challenged the goal, claiming Calvert interfered with Lack as the puck ripped through the air, but it was upheld upon review. Prout collected the puck just in front of the blue line off a faceoff, then sent it at the net.

''It was a 50-50 call, but I don't really feel like I have a lot of those going my way recently,'' Lack said with a smile.

Carolina did not reach double digits in shots until 5 minutes remained in the second period, and both teams failed to capitalize on each of their two power plays.

In the end it didn't matter, as the Hurricanes made enough plays to surge out front and grab a win.

''It doesn't happen too often. Just a good feeling for all the guys,'' Lindholm said. ''Maybe they came a little bit too quick so we couldn't handle when they got one back there, but it's fun. We want to score a lot. Today, without that, we wouldn't have won.''

NOTES: The teams are scheduled for their final meeting of the season April 2 in Carolina. ... Foligno returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday's game with an illness. ... The Jackets head to Nashville on Saturday for the first of four straight road games. ... The league suspended Columbus D Jared Boll four games Thursday for his blindside hit on Philadelphia's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare Tuesday. Columbus does not plan to appeal