The Carolina Hurricanes won their fourth straight, defeating the Winnipeg Jets, 3-1, Sunday night at PNC Arena.
The Hurricanes (7-6-4) ran up against a physical and undisciplined Jets (9-10-2) team, who couldn’t stay out of the penalty box. Initially, Winnipeg was able to survive without any damage, but ultimately the Carolina man advantage came to life with two power-play goals, proving to be the difference in the game.
Carolina forward Elias Lindholm, who has struggled to produce this year, found the back of the net for the first time this season to give the Canes a 1-0 first period lead. Lindholm fired the shot through the legs of Winnipeg defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and past netminder Connor Hellebuyck short side.
“It was nice to see him get that first one,” Carolina alternate captain Jordan Staal said. “I’ve been there — it’s never fun; you don’t want to see that goose egg beside your name … I’ve said before, he had a couple good games before this one. You could tell he was building towards it.”
Things got chippy, to say the least, in the second period. Both teams levied heavy hits, and the two squads combined for seven penalties, totaling 14 minutes, in the period.
“They were looking for the big bodies,” Staal said. “I thought we did a great job of matching that and standing our ground when that stuff came up, and at the same time not retaliating.”
The Jets continued to play undisciplined in the third as defenseman Mark Stuart cross checked Staal multiple times in the back to receive a two-minute penalty.
That penalty proved costly for Winnipeg as the Canes finally took advantage on the power play. Forward Victor Rask converted, scoring his team-leading eighth goal of the season on a rebound in the slot.
Winnipeg responded with a goal of its own, from forward Mark Scheifele, to cut the deficit in half.
With time running out on a potential Jets’ comeback, an undisciplined play once again costed Winnipeg. Rookie phenom Patrik Laine caught Carolina defenseman Justin Faulk with a high stick, giving the Canes yet another man advantage with just 2:21 left to play.
Defenseman Noah Hanifin converted on the power play with a blast from the point, making it 3-1 and sealing the game.
“I thought our power play came up huge,” said Carolina goaltender Cam Ward, who saved 28 of 29 shots he faced. “Especially to get that third [goal] too, just to give us a little bit of a breather and to finish the way we wanted to. I was proud of the guys the way they went and competed.”
With the victory, the Canes completed their five-game homestand with four wins, something the team knew it needed to do to have a legitimate shot of making the playoffs.
“This homestand was big for us,” Carolina forward Jeff Skinner said. “We wanted to pick up as many points as we could. We did a good job tonight closing it out. Now our job is to take it on the road and continue that brand of hockey we’ve been building towards here.”
