Logan Stankoven had two goals and an assist and Mark Jankowski scored twice to lift the visiting Carolina Hurricanes to a 7-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.
Carolina (51-22-6, 108 points) moved two points ahead of Buffalo for home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Hurricanes, who previously clinched the Metropolitan Division title, have a game in hand on the Sabres.
Frederik Andersen made 23 saves for Carolina while William Carrier earned three assists. Taylor Hall recorded a goal and an assist, and K’Andre Miller and Sean Walker also scored.
The Blackhawks (28-37-14, 70 points) sputtered to their seventh loss in eight games (1-6-1). Anton Frondell scored twice for Chicago, Louis Crevier had two assists, and Spencer Knight stopped 15 shots.
Carolina cruised despite resting multiple players, including forwards Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis, the club’s top three scorers entering the night.
The teams combined to score three goals on 14 shots in the first period.
Walker opened the scoring just 19 seconds into the game, beating Knight with a wrist shot from the slot. Walker missed a shot wide moments earlier, but Nikolaj Ehlers kept the puck in the zone and fired a pass back from the left side boards.
Frondell tied the game at 10:48. Crevier drove toward the net and slid a pass to Frondell, who weaved past Andersen and scored.
The Hurricanes regained the lead at 17:10. Stankoven gained the puck on the left side, cut in front and put a wrist shot over Knight.
Stankoven, who stretched his point streak to six games, scored his second goal of the night at 4:08 of the second period. Knight stopped Hall on a chance in front, but Stankoven collected the rebound and scored on the backhand.
Jankowski deflected an Alexander Nikishin shot to make it 4-1 Carolina at 14:50 of the second.
Miller, Hall and Jankowski scored over a 7:04 span in the third period to seal the result for the Hurricanes. Frondell got his second of the night in between the run, scoring on a deflection.
The Blackhawks went 0-for-4 on the power play while Carolina was 0-for-1.
Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield missed the game with a lower-body injury.
Carolina gained a split of the season series, avenging a home shootout loss on Jan. 22.
