COLUMBUS Womens Jared McCann 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, a former Carolina player who’s been an assistant coach for the past seven seasons. “I stood back there and yelled Jonathan Huberdeau Jersey , 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,” 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 Keith Yandle Jersey , 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. Aleksander Barkov and Patrik Laine will take center stage on Thursday in their home nation of Finland.Barkov’s Florida Panthers (2-4-3) and Laine’s Winnipeg Jets (7-4-1) will square off for two nights in a row at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki as part of the 2018 NHL Global Series.Both Barkov, 23, and Laine, 20, were born in Tampere, a two-hour drive from Helsinki. The two stars are on opposing sides in the NHL but they were linemates while playing for Finland in 2016 for the IIHF World Championship.Article continues below ...“At the World Championship, it was natural,” Barkov told NHL.com. “We’re from the same town. I’ve known about him for a long time. I knew he was going to be a very good player.“And he knew about me, so it was an easy transition to friendship. He’s a very good friend.”There will be a lot of friends at Hartwall on Thursday as Barkov and Laine have said they will leave numerous tickets for their loved ones from Finland.It should be a great show, especially the individual battle between these two dynamic forwards.Barkov was the NHL’s second overall draft pick in 2013 and became an All-Star last season. Considered one of the league’s best two-way centers, he scored 27 goals and totaled a career-high 78 points last season.“He has sick hands Authentic Nick Bjugstad Jersey ,” Laine told NHL.com when asked about Barkov. “He plays with a long stick, so his reach is really good. He’s good at back-checking and taking the puck away. He’s pretty magical on shootouts. His overall game is one of the best.”Laine is pretty special too. The NHL’s No. 2 overall draft pick in 2016, he scored 36 goals as a rookie and 44 last season. Laine finished second in the league in goals last season, trailing only Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.And, like Ovechkin, Laine’s one-timer is nearly unstoppable. Laine led the NHL last season with 20 power-play goals.Panthers starting goalie Roberto Luongo has yet to return from injuring his right knee on opening night. Backup netminder James Reimer has struggled in seven games, including five starts (1-3-1). He has a high goals-against average (3.41) and an unimpressive save percentage .878. The third-string goalie is Michael Hutchinson (1-1-2, 4.17 GAA, .839 save percentage).Winnipeg’s goaltender choices are a pair of 25-year-olds: starter Connor Hellebuyck (4-4-1, 3.00 GAA, .907 save percentage) and backup Laurent Brossoit (3-0-0 Vincent Trocheck Jersey , 1.67 GAA, .957 save percentage).Hellebuyck led the NHL with 44 wins last season, posting a 2.36 GAA and finishing second in the voting for the Vezina Trophy.So far, though, he has been outplayed by Brossoit.Jets coach Paul Maurice said Hellebuyck will get the nod Thursday but he has not made a decision on his starter for Friday’s rematch.“The open door on that one is that Laurent has been so good in volume games. He’s played so well,” said Maurice. “My starting point would be slightly leaning toward that, but I’ll judge it all based on the game.”