CHICAGO — Carolina brought a four-game winning streak into United Center and left with it intact Saturday, using a fast second-period push to put away the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2.
Jackson Blake and Jordan Martinook each finished with a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who improved to 4-1-1. Mark Jankowski scored for the third game in a row, Mike Reilly supplied two assists, and Brandon Bussi turned aside 24 shots. Chicago fell to 1-5-0 with its second straight loss despite a 34-save night from Spencer Knight.
Jankowski opened the scoring late in the first, converting a breakaway at 19:03. Jesperi Kotkaniemi sent him away from the blue line, and Jankowski pulled Knight from backhand to forehand before finishing for a 1-0 Carolina lead.
The Hurricanes broke the game open early in the middle frame. Sebastian Aho made it 2-0 with a short-handed goal at 2:09, entering the zone and pausing in the slot as Chicago defenseman Bowen Byram slid past without his stick after it had broken. Aho then snapped a wrist shot through for the Hurricanes’ second goal.
Blake followed 1:19 later with his first goal of the season. Logan Stankoven worked the puck from the goal line to the front, where Blake got enough of it at the crease to push it behind Knight and stretch the margin to three.
Chicago answered at 4:40, when Roman Kantserov collected the puck near the Blackhawks blue line, broke in alone and beat Bussi on the glove side for his first NHL goal. The unassisted finish gave the home bench a moment of life, but it did not last long.
Taylor Hall restored the three-goal cushion at 6:05. Blake fed Hall from low in the left circle, and Hall buried a one-timer from the slot to make it 4-1 before the period was seven minutes old.
Carolina closes it out
Martinook added another at 5:00 of the third period, taking the puck into the slot and finishing with a backhand to put Carolina ahead 5-1. Oliver Moore provided Chicago’s final goal at 14:14, driving in from the right circle and lifting a shot over Bussi’s shoulder.
The Hurricanes had the better of the night where it counted, capitalizing on breakaways, a short-handed chance and close-range work around Knight. Chicago found two goals, including a milestone marker for Kantserov, but could not recover from Carolina’s four-goal burst across the final minute of the first period and opening minutes of the second.
