It was a special win for the Carolina Hurricanes tonight, as both the power play and penalty kill powered the team to a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday at PNC Arena.
Both of the teams’ goals came on the power play, and the penalty kill held the Jets off the board on four opportunities.
“That was the difference in the game,” head coach Bill Peters said of the team’s special teams performance. “They were good when we needed them in the third.”
Goalie Eddie Lack stopped 20 of 21 shots to lift the Hurricanes (26-21-10) over the Jets (25-28-3).
“He was real good,” Peters said of Lack. “He felt a little bit ill a couple days ago. He got stronger, and he felt much better this morning. I thought he got better and better as it went on. He played well.”
The Canes came out of the gate with plenty of jump, looking to take the lead early. The team got a good chance to do so about three minutes in, but Jets starter Ondrej Pavelec made an excellent pad save on Canes forward Victor Rask to keep it scoreless.
The Hurricanes would not be denied however, as with Jets forward Drew Stafford in the box for interference, Jordan Staal backhanded a puck over Pavelec’s pad from the goal line to put the home team up 1-0 a little more than halfway through the period.
“When you can win the special teams battle, it’s always good thing,” said Jordan Staal, who had a goal and an assist in the win. “You’re always in the game if you win that one. The penalty kill had a good night and the power play had a couple big goals.”
Forward Kris Versteeg was called for high-sticking late in the period, but the Canes were killed off the first part of the penalty and headed to the locker room with a 1-0 lead.
Carolina killed the brief remainder of the penalty to start the second, but could not capitalize on a power play of its own, struggling to get anything going in Winnipeg’s zone.
The team’s next power play proved more fruitful, as defenseman Noah Hanifin took a shot from the point that Pavelec appeared to have, but forward Riley Nash backhanded the rebound by him to put the team up 2-0 around the midway point of the second. The goal, which turned out to be the game winner, turned out to be Nash’s second goal in as many games.
“I think I’ve had a little bit more consistent play, I’ve gotten some more chances,” Nash said. “My linemates have been playing really well, so I’ve been fortunate enough to capitalize on those.
The Hurricanes got a golden opportunity to make it 3-0 with five minutes and change left in the second, but Pavelec made an unbelievable diving save on Canes forward Andrej Nestrasil, who had an empty net. The rest of the period was fairly uneventful, and the Canes took a 2-0 lead to the locker room.
The Jets cut the Hurricanes’ lead in half about seven minutes into the third as Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba’s rocket from the point was tipped in by forward Blake Wheeler to make it 2-1 Canes.
The Canes really played with fire in the last 10 minutes of the third, as Winnipeg was able to get several quality chances and find a lot of open ice in the offensive zone. However, some big saves by Lack, key blocks by the defense and some plain old lucky bounces allowed the team to hang on for a key two points.
“It’s part of the game,” Jordan Staal said. “They’re a good team, and they’re going to try and make a push. It was unfortunate that they got a goal there, but we did a good job of sticking with it and playing the way we can and just trying to keep that last one out.”
Tonight’s victory moves the Hurricanes within two points of an Eastern Conference wild-card spot. The team will next hit the road and head to Canada’s capital to take on the Ottawa Senators Thursday night.
