The Hurricanes went 1-1-0 over the past week. The Carolina Hurricanes found themselves back in the win column Sunday with a 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, much thanks to the performance of Dustin Tokarski in net. Not only was it the 35-year-old veteran's first start for the Carolina Hurricanes [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/latest-news/veteran-goaltender-to-make-hurricanes-debut-tonight-against-columbus], but it was also his first game back in the NHL in nearly two years (Feb. 18, 2023). "It's been pretty wild," said Tokarski, who didn't even have an AHL contract before the Canes signed him at the start of the month, "But it's been awesome, been fun. Grateful for Chicago and grateful to get here and happy to get the win today." It didn't look like Tokarski had missed a beat though, stopping 27 of the 28 shots he faced in front of a sold out Lenovo Center crowd. "I didn't realize it had been that long," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "That's a testament to him to hang in there. I think he was almost out of it too at the start of this year. It's a great story. Hopefully it continues. It's a good start here. I'm happy for him and I know the guys were really happy for him too." The Canes didn't make it easy on Tokarski to start, with six minutes of penalties in the opening 10 minutes of the first period, but he was calm and cool in net. The Hurricanes' penalty killers also helped him out with some key blocks and clears before eventually Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho teamed up to give Carolina the first goal with a shorthanded tally. "The penalty kill was great again tonight and they're a big part of it," Brind'Amour said. "That's the one thing. When they can turn the puck over, that's a great opportunity for them to do that and you've seen it a few times this year. That was, I think, a key part of the game, because we were obviously right in that six minutes of penalties. Kind of flipped the momentum early, which was nice." While Aho's shorthanded goal flipped momentum, it was the Jordan Staal line which set the tone. The trio of Staal, Jordan Martinook and William Carrier opened the game with a dominant shift, nearly scoring in the process, but all game long they were just dominating, "Just every shift was just on it," Brind'Amour said. "They obviously scored a big goal, but that kind of drove us tonight." According to naturalstattrick.com, the Staal, Martinook, Carrier line outchanced their opponents 11-4 and had a 9-0 edge in scoring chances. But the line wasn't just good by the numbers, they produced too. "We kind of did it all game," Carrier said. "Just put puck behind them and get the game going. Get some shots on net. We call those playoff goals. They're just scrambles or in-front of the net rebounds. We'll try to get more of those." Carrier put home a feed from Staal late in the first period after Martinook made a great defensive play on the backcheck and then late in the second period, Martinook tipped home a Staal slapshot. "I told him to start using it more," Martinook said of Staal's slapshot. "He had a beauty in Vegas and then that was an easy tip. He's gotta teach our D how to shoot like that." The Martinook goal was also the first of two challenged goals by Dean Evanson and the Blue Jackets, this one due to potential goaltender interference, but it was ruled a good goal and Carolina was awarded a penalty. "You're definitely holding your breath on that, especially when it feels like, I don't know, forever since I've scored," Martinook said. "You're just hoping that one stays and I was happy it did." However, on that ensuing power play, Jack Roslovic scored, but this one was again challenged and ultimately called up back due to a hand pass by Tyson Jost. Carolina would eventually find a fourth goal regardless as Jesperi Kotkaniemi ripped a wrister top-corner on Elvis Merzlikins. "I loved seeing that," Brind'Amour said. "He's got a great wrister and slapper. He had a couple on the power play he let go tonight too. If we can get that play out of him, that's what we're looking for, for sure. That was a big goal. Kind of, I don't want to say put the game away, but certainly made it a lot easier."
