Regular Season, Game 78: Hurricanes v. Winnipeg Jets

After a brief trip out west, the Hurricanes return home to play their penultimate home game tonight against the Winnipeg Jets. Each game on the trip followed the same formula, just with different results each night. The loss to Colorado saw the Avalanche jump out to a huge 4-0 lead, but the Canes managed to keep it reasonable after falling behind, losing 7-4. Monday night against Arizona, the Canes were the ones to jump out to a huge lead. They scored the first three goals of the game in the first 25 minutes of play with Vincent Trocheck, Jesper Fast, and Max Domi all scoring. Arizona scored to get back within two, but Nino Niederreiter got that one back to make it 4-1 just over halfway through the period. The Coyotes finished the period strong with two goals late in the period to make it a one-goal game heading into the third, but Sebastian Aho put home the dagger and the defense stifled the Coyotes to make way for a 5-3 win for the Canes. 

The first meeting with Winnipeg took place north of the border back in early December during the Canes' trip to Western Canada. I had to go back and watch the highlights from this game because I didn't remember much. Jaccob Slavin opened the scoring 30 seconds into the contest and Aho added another early in the second period to make it 2-0. The Jets responded with goals from Nikolaj Ehlers during a 4-on-4 and Pierre-Luc Dubois on the power play with the between-the-legs finish. Martin Necas would toss home a power play goal with 20 seconds left in the second period to re-instate the Canes' lead. Trocheck tucked home another power play goal and then Frederik Andersen made a huge save to prevent the Jets from getting back into it as the Canes went on to win 4-2. Antti Raanta played well in his return to the desert and he'll be called upon again tonight with Andersen still on the shelf for the time being. Jordan Staal, who missed the Arizona game after taking a huge hit against Colorado, will be back tonight in his normal spot with Niederreiter and Fast. Ian Cole will also return to the lineup with Ethan Bear serving as the healthy extra. 

The Jets were officially knocked out of playoff contention last night, so there won't be a White Out in Winnipeg during the postseason this year. They're playing the final game of a six-game road trip and they've been put through the wringer during this run. They opened the trip with consecutive wins over Ottawa and Montreal, but have dropped their last three to the Panthers, Lightning, and Rangers. They've been outscored 16-5 during this three-game portion of the trip and the loss to the Rangers in their last outing was a 3-0 shutout at the hands of Igor Shesterkin. Ryan Strome scored the opening and closing goals of the game with Adam Fox's goal sandwiched in the middle. Eric Comrie started in place of Connor Hellebuyck, who is dealing with a non-COVID illness, and he played great. Despite taking the loss, he made 31 saves and kept his team in the game all night. He'll be the starter again tonight with Hellebuyck still dealing with his illness. Mark Schiefele was another name out of the lineup for the Jets on Tuesday night and it looks like he'll be out again tonight. There is still plenty of firepower in this Winnipeg offense, namely Kyle Conner, who leads the team in goals (43), assists (44), and points (87). He's been very good on the road this season, so keep an eye out for him all night. The Canes need two points, just like always, with the Rangers tied with them at the top of the Metropolitan Divison to begin the night. Every point matters at this point, especially in the fight for home ice during the playoffs. 

1st Period

Scoring

(WPG) 7:10- Kyle Connor (44) (assisted by Pierre-Luc Dubois (31))

(WPG) 18:55- Pierre-Luc Dubois (27) (assisted by Dylan DeMelo (12))

Thoughts

The Canes will never not make a backup goalie look like a Vezina contender. Eric Comrie looked great through the first 20 minutes of this one, while the Canes had plenty of chances. The Jets scored both goals in the period and Pierre-Luc Dubois was a factor in both. He set up Kyle Connor for the first goal and then scored the second with Antti Raanta deep in his crease. The Canes had three chances on the power play and despite looking very good on the last two, didn't have an answer for Comrie. The kill has come up big twice already, so there's at least one aspect of the game the Canes are playing well in. This has the makings of one of those frustrating games for the Canes, which is not ideal against a non-playoff team during a tight division race. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 19:30- Teuvo Teravainen (20) PP (assisted by Sebastian Aho (42) & Tony DeAngelo (39))

Thoughts

The power play goal at the end of the period from Teravainen was extremely important for the Canes' chance to come back in this game. Had this gone into intermission 2-0, I felt the lead would've been tough to overcome because Comrie continued to look amazing in the second period. The Canes shot themselves in the foot a few times, missing on some excellent chances in close, but they finally dented the armor of Comrie to break up the shutout with just under 30 seconds left in the period. Winnipeg controlled play to begin the period, getting two good chances in close, but it was all Carolina from there outside of a rush chance or two, one of which rang the post. DeAngelo has been jumping into the play quite a bit, but it has come at the expense of his defense and allowing chances the other way. The top two lines have looked good tonight and they'll be huge if the Canes have any chance of completing the comeback tonight. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 4:10- Jaccob Slavin (4) (assisted by Andrei Svechnikov (38) & Martin Necas (24))

(CAR) 8:21- Seth Jarvis (15) (assisted by Brendan Smith (3) & Teuvo Teravainen (42))

(CAR) 19:13- Jordan Staal (17) (assisted by Jesper Fast (19) & Brady Skjei (27))

Thoughts

It's hard not to love this team and what they can do when they're working as a cohesive unit. They hit the ice running in the third period and played like a desperate team playing from behind. They were rewarded after Andrei Svechnikov did everything but score before Jaccob Slavin finally puts home the rebound and ties it up with just over 16 minutes left. Even with the game tied, the Canes continued to be the more desperate team and were again rewarded for their hard work with Seth Jarvis banging home a rebound after winning a battle in front of the net. As they usually do with the lead in the third period, the defense stepped up, Raanta made some stops, and they were able to get the empty-net goal to put this one away and match the Rangers' win tonight. This is a third-period team and they've proven it time and time again this season. I never had a doubt they'd complete the comeback. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Andrei Svechnikov (Assist)

It's not just that Svechnikov broke his career-high in assists tonight with his 38th, it's how and when he did it. The Canes had been stonewalled up until the end of the second period until a young gun from Russia tried dancing his way into the zone, throwing several shots on Comrie, and would eventually come away with an assist on the tying goal. He had five shots tonight, but his assist is going to be his best play tonight.

Second Star- Seth Jarvis (Goal)

The rookie from Winnipeg never fails to amaze me. Despite being the youngest on the team, he has a heart as big as anyone and he showed it tonight on the eventual game-winning goal. He won a battle in front of Comrie and banged home the rebound on the shot from the point by Smith. He continues his hot play in the second half of the season by scoring against his hometown team. 

First Star- Teuvo Teravainen (Goal, Assist)

Given how the game ended, Turbo's goal at the end of the second period on the power play was ginormous. Comrie had looked unbeatable to that point, but the first dent in the armor led to the unraveling of the Jets in the third period as he picked up a secondary assist on the winner from Jarvis. He was due for a great game and I thought that game was tonight. 

Final Thoughts

This comeback win only means that much more with the Rangers dominating the Islanders tonight. The win allows the Canes to stay atop the division on tiebreakers before playing three games in four days on the road, ending at Madison Square Garden next Tuesday. They outplayed the Jets for three periods without getting the desired results in the first period, falling down 2-0. From that point, the Canes found the scoring touch right before the end of the second and early in the third. Teuvo Teravainen's 20th goal of the season gives the team five 20-goal scorers this season, something they haven't done in a long time. The goal now is to do into New Jersey and Brooklyn this weekend and come out with at least three points to keep themselves at the top of the division with a chance to get the job done in MSG against the Rangers. Both teams have given the Canes a hard time this season, so they won't be easy games for the Canes. The hope is that we'll get the NHL debut of Pyotr Kochetkov this weekend. This was a great team effort tonight and they fought hard to get these two points before a busy weekend.