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COLUMBUS Anders Lee Jersey , Ohio (AP) — When the week began, Curtis McElhinney didn’t expect to be starting an NHL game Friday night, let alone emerging as the winning goalie in a game in Columbus, where he played as a backup for five seasons.The 35-year-old McElhinney was waived by Toronto on Monday and scooped up by Carolina on Tuesday as a backup after starter Scott Darling was injured over the weekend. He started in the second leg of a back-to-back on Friday night, stopping 31 shots as the Hurricanes beat the Blue Jackets 3-1.McElhinney was the primary backup to Sergei Bobrovsky in Columbus from 2013-17. Playing for the Maple Leafs last season, he lost to the Blue Jackets on three separate occasions.“It’s a nice way to get a win,” he said. “I think they got the best of me when I was playing against them on Toronto, so it’s nice to come out here and make a good first impression with the club.”Sebastian Aho and Micheal Ferland each had a goal and an assist, and Jordan Martinook also scored to help give Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour his first NHL win and ruin the home opener for the Blue Jackets.McElhinney grabbed the puck after the final horn and handed it over to the rookie coach.“He deserved it a lot more than I did,” said Brind’Amour Andrew Ladd Jersey , a former Carolina player who’s been an assistant coach for the past seven seasons. “I stood back there and yelled, and he was making all the saves. It was great that we were able to get him and he contributes like that.”Columbus looked discombobulated at times against Carolina’s tough neutral-zone defense but made an aggressive push in the second period, only to have shot after shot turned away by McElhinney.Brandon Dubinsky scored and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 shots for the Blue Jackets.“I think we were a little bit sloppy tonight, we just weren’t executing,” Columbus coach John Tortorella said. “But I’m also going to give Carolina a little bit of credit, how they checked.” Martinook got it started 1:43 into the game when he rifled a shot over Bobrovsky’s glove from the slot off a nice feed from 18-year-old Andrei Svechnikov, the No. 2 pick in the June draft who picked up his first NHL point with the assist. Dubinsky tied it later in the first when he tipped in a rebound off McElhinney’s skate. Aho chipped a shot up over Bobrovsky to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead 6 1/2 minutes into the second period. Later in the second, McElhinney made a critical save, swallowing up a point-blank shot from Josh Anderson on a breakaway.Just after the Blue Jackets came up empty on their third power play of the night, Ferland found the back of the net with a one-timer from the slot 4 1/2 minutes into the third period. McElhinney shut down Columbus the rest of the way.“It’s one of those things Anthony Beauvillier Jersey ,” McElhinney said. “I’m always grateful for an opportunity to play any time in this league. For Carolina to give me that right now, it feels tremendous.”NOTES: A quick whistle kept the Blue Jackets from tying the game in the second period. A referee whistled the play dead after a McElhinney stop, but the puck immediately popped out and Dubinsky put back the rebound. … The Blue Jackets are now 7-8-3 in home openers. … The Blue Jackets and Hurricanes are two of the youngest clubs in the NHL. The average age for both teams is 25. … Svechnikov got his first point after hitting the post twice in Carolina’s opening night overtime loss to the New York Islanders.UP NEXT:Carolina: Hosts the New York Rangers on Sunday.Columbus: Hosts Colorado on Tuesday night. ST. LOUIS (AP) — Vladimir Tarasenko smiled when he learned the St. Louis Blues had moved into second place in the Central Division.“It’s really good, but there’s a lot of stuff still left to play for,” he said.Ryan O’Reilly scored the only goal in a shootout and the Blues slowed Colorado’s playoff push with a 3-2 victory over the Avalanche on Monday night.St. Louis has already wrapped up a playoff berth and still has a chance to win the Central Division. The Blues are tied with Nashville for second place with 94 points, two behind Winnipeg. All three teams have three games left.St. Louis owns the tiebreaker with Nashville.The Blues were last in the entire NHL at the start of January but have gone on a 28-10-4 surge since the ball dropped on 2019, including 11 straight wins from Jan. 23 through Feb. 19.“It’s been a great run,” Tarasenko said. “I’m really proud of everyone.”Meanwhile, Colorado is fighting to secure a place in the playoffs.Trying to hold onto the final postseason spot in the Western Conference, the Avalanche had won four straight and were 6-0-1 in their previous seven games. They earned one point to move two ahead of Arizona for the second wild card in the West. Both teams have three games remaining.Colorado is three points behind Dallas for the top wild card. By getting to 86 points Authentic Brock Nelson Jersey , the Avalanche eliminated Edmonton from playoff contention.“I’m happy to get a point,” coach Jared Bednar said. “I wish we had two but I’m pretty happy to come into a really tough building against a real good team and get a point here tonight. It’ll be a big point.”Jaden Schwartz and Tarasenko scored in regulation for the Blues, who improved to 7-1-0 in their last eight games.Jordan Binnington made 24 saves in his 22nd win of the season, tying Jake Allen for most by a St. Louis rookie goaltender.“I’ve been fortunate to play a lot of games here in the final stretch of the season,” Binnington said. “I’m happy with the team and this organization. He’s (Allen) a talented guy over there. He’s a pretty special goaltender.”Alexander Kerfoot and Gabriel Landeskog scored in the third period for the Avalanche.O’Reilly scored on the Blues’ second attempt in the shootout. Colorado missed all three of its shots.“We’re happy with the win,” Binnington said. “It’s always easier to sleep when you win. I wasn’t happy about going to overtime but you’ve got to handle the situation. It’s six guys out there and they have some talented players out there.”Colorado goalie Philipp Grubauer made 25 saves.The Avalanche tied it late in the third when Kerfoot scored at 19:13. Colorado had an extra man on the ice after Grubauer was pulled with 2:16 to play in the period. Kerfoot redirected in a shot from Landeskog, who scored earlier in the period.“It was just kind of a desperation play,” Kerfoot said. “I think it was kind of a blown coverage by them a little bit and Gabe did a good job getting it to the net and I just got a stick on it,” Kerfoot said.Schwartz scored in the first period and Tarasenko tallied early in the third for St. Louis.Schwartz took a cross-ice pass from Oskar Sundqvist and tipped it in at 7:07 of the first. It was the first goal in six games for Schwartz.That goal made up for one that was taken away earlier. Tyler Bozak scored 1:40 into the game but the goal was disallowed. Bozak was ruled offside on the play.Colorado got its first shot on goal at 14:47 of the first period. St. Louis outshot the Avalanche 15-2 in the period.Neither team scored in the second as Colorado outshot the Blues 10-3.Tarasenko gave the Blues a 2-0 lead 14 seconds into the third. He scored his 31st of the season when he put in a rebound of a shot by O’Reilly.With that goal, Tarasenko moved into sole possession of fifth place in Blues history with 209 goals Cal Clutterbuck Jersey , passing Keith Tkachuk.Colorado cut the lead to 2-1 when Landeskog scored on a deflection at 6:30. It was Landeskog’s 34th goal this season.The win gave the Blues a season sweep over Colorado for the first time in team history. St. Louis did sweep the franchise four times when it was located in Quebec and called the Nordiques, with the last time coming in 1991-92. The Blues went 4-0-0 against the Avalanche this season, outscoring Colorado 12-5. At home, the Blues are 7-1-0 in their last eight games against Colorado.NOTES: Avalanche C Nathan MacKinnon needs one goal to reach 40 for the first time in his career and two points to reach 400 in the NHL. Last season, he scored a career-high 39 goals. The last 40-goal scorer for Colorado was Milan Hejduk, who had 50 in the 2002-03 season. … St. Louis D Jay Bouwmeester needs one assist for 100 with the Blues. … Colorado forward Mikko Rantanen remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury. … Colorado had scored the first goal in its previous eight games and nine of the last 10. … Linesman Tim Nowak officiated the game. It was his last game in a 26-year career that spanned 1,729 regular-season games and 114 playoff games. … Since Craig Berube took over as coach on Nov. 19, 2018, the Blues are 36-19-5.UP NEXTAvalanche: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.Blues: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.