Andersen earns 300th win, Hurricanes rally past Blue Jackets

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Frederik Andersen became the second-fastest goaltender to reach 300 wins as the Carolina Hurricanes scored five straight goals in the second period to rally past the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 7-4 win at Lenovo Center on Thursday.

Seth Jarvis had two goals and two assists, Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists, and Andersen made 18 saves for the Hurricanes (30-16-3), who have won four in a row.

Andersen, who played his 500th game on Monday, is 300-128-52, including 74-28-4 with Carolina.

“It makes a long season a little bit more memorable,” Andersen said. “A game like tonight was a little bit back and forth. You wish you could play some things a little different. (But) you don’t win games in this League without goal support.”

“We struggled for a while, and it always felt like it was coming but it never really did,” Jarvis said. “We just take every day as a new day. We don’t look forward or look back on anything. I think that’s what’s been working the last couple games.”

James van Riemsdyk and Kent Johnson each had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets (23-19-7), who defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 on Wednesday. Daniil Tarasov made 36 saves.

“We got away from our structure a little bit,” Columbus coach Dean Evason said. “We didn’t stay within ourselves, and they obviously had a push.

“Our thought process was to frustrate them, not give them those odd-man rushes and not allow them to get behind us. We gave them a little crack, and they got through it.”

Columbus took a 1-0 lead at 7:08 of the first period. After the Blue Jackets forced a turnover, Luca Del Bel Belluz fed a pass to Johnson, who scored five-hole from the left faceoff circle.

Kirill Marchenko made it 2-0 at 9:48 when he took a cross-ice backhand pass from Adam Fantilli and roofed a shot over Andersen’s glove.

Carolina cut the lead to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 2:48 of the second period. Aho passed from the left circle to Jarvis for a back-door tap in.

The Hurricanes tied it 2-2 at 7:11. Andersen rimmed the puck around the boards to the neutral zone, where Jarvis gathered the puck at the red line and hit Eric Robinson driving the net for a redirect under the blocker.

“(Columbus) likes to pressure the defense a lot, so you try to bypass them and break out a little easier,” Andersen said. “I thought that went pretty well tonight.”

Carolina took a 3-2 lead at 7:58 on a sharp-angle wrist shot by Jackson Blake that handcuffed Tarasov.

Moments later, Blake knocked down a clearing attempt and passed to Aho, who scored with a quick snap shot for a 4-2 lead at 8:33.

“They kind of played to their strengths, get on their transition, get on the forecheck,” van Riemsdyk said. “Some of those plays, maybe (it was) a little bit of (our) execution.”

Jordan Martinook scored off a saucer pass from Jarvis on a 2-on-1 for a 5-2 lead at 11:34.

“He’s growing still as a player,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Those kind of players, as they grow, they’re thinking the game two or three steps ahead. That’s where you’re seeing growth in his game, both offensively and defensively.”

Columbus then scored two goals on net-front deflections. Johnson’s shot through traffic went into the net off van Riemsdyk to make it 5-3 at 13:21, then Zach Werenski’s shot deflected off Dmitri Voronkov to cut Carolina’s advantage to 5-4 at 14:43.

“It was kind of weird," Jarvis said. "You score five, you let (in) two. All of a sudden, you’re only up one. So there’s a range of emotions, but I think we did a good job staying level-headed, knowing we played a good game and just a couple lapses led to the two goals.”

Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored into an open net off a pass from Martin Necas for a 6-4 lead at 11:12 of the third. Kotkaniemi has four goals in the past three games after scoring one in the previous 16.

“It’s good to get a couple goals,” Kotkaniemi said. “It was a little tougher stretch there for a while. I’m just a big believer in working hard and thinking it’s going to pay off at some point.”

Jarvis added an empty-net goal at 18:08 for the 7-4 final.

NOTES: Andersen is the second-fastest in League history to 300 NHL wins behind Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy (490). Vasilevskiy reached the mark earlier this season in a 4-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 14. ... The Hurricanes have won seven straight at home against the Blue Jackets. … Carolina finishes the season series 2-0-2 against Columbus.