The Carolina Hurricanes celebrate a goal scored by Logan Stankoven (22) during the first period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Lenovo Center on April 2, 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Jared C. Tilton
Getty Images
Raleigh
Back to the playoffs. Again.
In what has become a yearly event for the Carolina Hurricanes with Rod Brind’Amour as the coach, the Canes qualified for an eighth straight trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs Thursday with a 5-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Lenovo Center.
Logan Stankoven scored twice, Alexander Nikishin had a historic shorthanded goal, and Jordan Martinook answered a Columbus goal with a quickie of his own. Add in a power-play goal by Andrei Svechnikov and it added up to a decisive win by the Metropolitan Division leaders in clinching the playoff spot.
“It’s a huge accomplishment,” Brind’Amour said. “It gets watered down because from the start of training camp everyone is talking about the playoffs. I know how hard it is to accomplish that. You have to be good for six months. You can’t not be, otherwise you see what’s going on in this conference. It takes 100 points to make the playoffs.
‘It’s not our goal. We all know that. It’s nobody’s goal. But you can’t get to that next phase if you don’t play well for six months, which is harder than playing for two months. It’s not as important. Those two months are the most important, but you have to get there.”
Andrei Svechnikov (37) of the Carolina Hurricanes shares a smile following a goal scored during the third period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Lenovo Center on April 2, 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Jared C. Tilton Getty Images
With a 48-21-6 record and 102 points, the Canes have a 10-point lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Metro. Both Buffalo, which lost Thursday at Ottawa, and Tampa Bay, which beat the Pens, have 100 points in leading the Atlantic Division.
The Blue Jackets (38-26-12), after a second loss to the Canes this week, remain stuck on 88 points and must continue to battle for a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference in the final stretch of the regular season.
Nikishin’s goal, at 12:50 of the first period, was the first shorthanded score by a rookie defenseman in franchise history, and his 11th goal of a season that has seen him rapidly improve. It also was the Canes’ 11th shorty this season, tied for the NHL high.
Alexander Nikishin of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates with his team following his goal scored during the first period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Lenovo Center on April 2, 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Jared C. Tilton Getty Images
It also was a milestone game for Canes captain Jordan Staal, who played his 1,400th game, and Sebastian Aho, whose two assists gave him 400 for his career.
Canes goaltender Frederik Andersen didn’t get a lot of work — the 10 shots by Columbus matched the lowest allowed in the Canes’ franchise history — but made some quality saves in ending a personal two-game losing streak, both against Montreal.
Hurricanes start on time
The first period had the Canes at their best. They were quick to pucks, won all the board battles, controlled the pace and gave the Blue Jackets nothing: two shots in 20 minutes.
“Really good start,” Aho said. “That was pretty much the game. We never let them come back.”
Stankoven, who at 5-foot-8 doesn’t mind setting up near the net, picked up his first goal on the redirection of a point shot by defenseman K’Andre Miller. His second came off the rebound of a Taylor Hall shot, Stankoven collecting the loose puck for a tap-in.
It was the first multi-goal period of Stankoven’s still-young career and his first multi-goal game since being traded to the Canes last season. His teammates and coaches have said the center has been snakebitten this season, but he made the most of his two scoring chances in the first.
Adam Fantilli (19) of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes work to obtain possession of the puck during the first period at Lenovo Center on April 2, 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Jared C. Tilton Getty Images
“Not being afraid to get in there, and it is hard at times with the bigger guys and a lot of D-men who are trained to box out well, I just try to get underneath and get good positioning first and hopefully the shot gets through,” said Stankoven, who has 17 goals this season. “The hardest thing in the league to do is score goals and I think I’ve done all the work I can do on that.”
Miller had the first penalty of the game but that only led to the Canes’ third goal and 3-0 lead. After the Jackets’ Ivan Provorov fanned on a power-play shot, the Canes suddenly had a 3-on-2 rush the other way and Nikishin unloaded from the left wing for his “shortie.”
The Blue Jackets made a push in the second period with better forechecking and made it a 3-1 game when defenseman Denton Mateychuk swept in to knock the puck out of a crowd and past Andersen.
Thirteen seconds later, that goal was forgotten and the arena loud again.
After Staal knocked the puck away from Kirill Marchenko along the boards, using his long reach to poke it out, Martinook got off a shot from the left point that skittered across the ice and past goalie Elvis Merzlikins for a 4-1 lead.
Jordan Martinook, second from right, of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates with teammates Jalen Chatfield, left, Nikolaj Ehlers, second from left, and Jaccob Slavin, right, following a goal during the second period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Lenovo Center on April 2, 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Jared C. Tilton Getty Images
Brandon Bussi was in net for the Canes on Tuesday when Carolina beat the Jackets in Columbus. It was Andersen’s turn Thursday. Andersen faced just six shots through two periods but had a sharp save on Sean Monahan in the second, moving quickly to his left, and had Canes fans breaking into the “Fred-die” chant.
Svechnikov’s goal came after Shayne Gostisbehere came out of the penalty box and jumped into the play, earning the primary assist.
The Canes have had regular-season and playoff success under Brind’Amour, but have been unable to get out of the conference finals and play for the Cup.
“We’ve had some really good teams,” Aho said. “Obviously every year is a new story. It doesn’t matter if you missed the last eight or made the last eight.
“This year is a unique opportunity again to do something great. That’s obviously our goal and we’ll do everything we can to make it happen.”
This story was originally published April 2, 2026 at 10:56 PM.
The News & Observer
In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.