RALEIGH, N.C. - Cam Atkinson scored twice and Anton Forsberg made 29 saves to help a Columbus Blue Jackets split squad beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Sunday in the exhibition opener for both teams.

Nick Foligno and Mike Hoeffel added goals for Columbus. Chris Terry, Riley Nash and Andrej Sekera scored for Carolina. The Hurricanes have lost six straight exhibition openers.

Carolina held centre Eric Staal out of the lineup. Staal, who had off-season surgery to repair a core muscle injury, participated in the first days of preseason camp.