Blue Jackets Limp Into Raleigh as Hurricanes Look to Feast on Struggling Visitor

The Columbus Blue Jackets roll into PNC Arena on Thursday night, and if you're looking for a mismatch, you've found it. Carolina enters this one as a buzzsaw at home, while the Jackets are still searching for any semblance of consistency early in the 2026-27 campaign.

Columbus has been a defensive sieve through the opening weeks, bleeding goals at an alarming rate and struggling to generate enough offense to compensate. Their special teams have been particularly brutal, and going on the road against a Hurricanes squad that thrives on speed and puck possession is about as friendly as a schedule gets for a team trying to find its footing.

Carolina, meanwhile, has turned Raleigh into a fortress. They're rolling lines effectively, getting contributions throughout the lineup, and their transition game remains one of the league's most dangerous. The Canes excel at forcing turnovers and turning defense into instant offense—exactly the kind of style that exposes a shaky Columbus backend.

The Jackets will need a Herculean goaltending performance and some opportunistic finishing to hang around here. More likely? Carolina controls possession, capitalizes on the power play, and puts this one away before the third period gets interesting. Expect the home side to handle business convincingly.