Saad's 1st career hat trick helps Columbus beat Carolina 5-1

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Brandon Saad scored three goals for his first career hat trick, and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 on Saturday night.

Boone Jenner and Oliver Bjorkstrand also scored, and Alexander Wennberg and David Savard had two assists apiece.

The last-place Blue Jackets scored three goals in the second period and snapped a four-game losing streak.

Jeff Skinner scored and Eddie Lack made 22 saves for the Hurricanes, who were mathematically eliminated from the playoff race. They had kept their long-shot postseason bid alive by earning points in 12 of their previous 14 games.

Joonas Korpisalo stopped 26 shots to help the Blue Jackets avoid a season sweep.

Saad scored Columbus' first three goals during his natural hat trick that helped the Blue Jackets take a two-goal lead.

He tied it at 1 with 5:43 left in the first after a giveaway by Jay McClement at the blue line gave him a breakaway, and he beat Lack high.

The second goal came with 13:24 left in the second, one-timing a pretty behind-the-net backhand feed from rookie Sonny Milano past Lack for his 27th goal.

Saad then finished off the hat trick on a 4-on-4 with 1:17 left in the second, parking in front of the blue paint and chipping in a short pass from Wennberg to make it 3-1 and prompt some Blue Jackets fans to toss a handful of hats onto the ice.

Jenner all but ended it in the final split-second of the period. With time ticking away, he took a quick feed from Cam Atkinson off a rebound and beat the buzzer to make it a three-goal game.

That scoring flurry came after Skinner put the Hurricanes up 1-0 with 11:07 left in the first. He made a slick move to elude defenseman Cody Goloubef, then beat Korpisalo with a wrist shot for his team-best 28th goal and his sixth point in six games.

NOTES: Lack allowed five goals for the third time this season. ... Carolina matched a season low for shots in a period with two in the second. ... Milano, playing in his second career game, earned his first point. ... The Blue Jackets assigned D Justin Falk to Lake Erie of the AHL before the game.

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