Columbus @ Carolina preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 15, 2019 ) Carolina 0, Columbus 3

The Carolina Hurricanes were in a battle to remain perfect on the season before taking over late in the second period on Friday. They look to extend their season-opening winning streak to six games on Saturday, when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Carolina squandered a pair of one-goal leads against the New York Islanders before Erik Haula scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season with 4:51 left in the middle session to snap a tie as the team posted a 5-2 victory. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton tallied less than four minutes later and Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net goal late in the third for the Hurricanes, who are off to the best start in franchise history. Columbus has lost three of its first four contests in 2019-20 after dropping a 2-1 home decision to Anaheim on Friday. Pierre-Luc Dubois netted the lone tally for the Blue Jackets, who posted their only win in overtime and have recorded a total of four goals in their three setbacks.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Columbus), FS Carolinas

ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (1-3-0): Josh Anderson, who posted career highs of 27 goals, 20 assists and 47 points while appearing in all 82 games last season, was placed on injured reserve on Friday. The 25-year-old right wing, who has recorded four penalty minutes and a minus-4 rating in two contests this campaign, is nursing an upper-body injury he suffered at Pittsburgh last Saturday. Boone Jenner remains in search of his 200th career point after being kept off the scoresheet in each of his first four games this season.

ABOUT THE HURRICANES (5-0-0): Julien Gauthier made his NHL debut on Friday after being selected 21st overall in the 2016 draft, recording a minor penalty while winning his lone faceoff in 8 minutes, 23 seconds of ice time. The 21-year-old nephew of former NHL defenseman Denis Gauthier scored two goals in as many games with Charlotte of the American Hockey League this season before being recalled on Wednesday. Svechnikov added an assist versus the Islanders, giving him a team-leading eight points, while Hamilton also set up a goal to increase his point total to seven.

OVERTIME

1. Hurricanes LW Teuvo Teravainen has scored a goal in back-to-back contests and recorded at least one point in each of his five games this season.

2. Columbus recalled LW Markus Hannikainen, who was a healthy scratch on Friday, from Cleveland of the American Hockey League.

3. Carolina C Jordan Staal notched an assist against New York, leaving him four shy of 300 for his career.

PREDICTION: Blue Jackets 3, Hurricanes 2