Hurricanes 4, Blue Jackets 2: Defenseman Justin Faulk scored his first goal of the season as visiting Carolina held on to hand Columbus its sixth consecutive defeat.

Zach Boychuk and Riley Nash each scored in the first period and captain Eric Staal added an empty-net tally with 12 seconds left for the Hurricanes, who have won three straight. Cam Ward turned aside 17 shots during his third straight start as Carolina won its first game on the road (1-5-1).

Nick Foligno recorded a pair of goals for the Blue Jackets, who have scored only 10 times during their losing streak. Curtis McElhinney made 33 saves for Columbus, which was beaten 46-27 in the faceoff circle and managed only 10 shots in the final 40 minutes.

Carolina posted 18 shots in the first period and led 2-0 after Boychuk knocked on a rebound at 15:33 and Nash scored off a centering pass from defenseman Andrej Sekera 95 seconds later. Columbus pulled within 2-1 with 1:01 left in the opening session when Foligno chipped in a rebound of a Ryan Johansen shot.

The Hurricanes restored the two-goal edge after Faulk stole the puck inside the Carolina blue line, took off for the net and fired a backhand shot that trickled over McElhinney for a short-handed goal 6:54 into the second period. Foligno notched his sixth goal of the season with 5:23 left in the contest, but Ward made a big save on Scott Hartnell in close to preserve the victory before Staal’s goal.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Hurricanes C Elias Lindholm had an assist on Nash’s goal for his fifth point in three games after going without one in the previous seven. … With Ds Ryan Murray (knee), James Wisniewski (broken finger) Cody Goloubef (knee) all out, Columbus D Frederic St. Denis played in his first NHL game since April 7, 2012 with Montreal. … Carolina RW Alexander Semin, who was a healthy scratch the last two games, did not have a shot on goal in 12:28 of ice time.