When it rains, it pours.
The Carolina Hurricanes taught goalie Eric Comrie and the Winnipeg Jets this lesson with a 4-2 comeback victory on Thursday, April 21 in PNC Arena. Carolina doused the Winnipeg net with shots all night, outshooting the Jets 46-22, and eventually broke the seal late in the second period before pulling away in the third.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour centered his pre-game around what to do when bad things happen, and that subject proved to be topical. Despite an early 2-0 deficit the Hurricanes (50-20-8) clawed their way back into the game and secured a valuable two points against the Jets (35-32-11).
“I hate when I say things and they come to fruition like that,” Brind’Amour said. “Things certainly didn’t go our way, but it was how we responded. That was the key. Just sticking with what we were doing.”
The Canes doubled the Jets in shots over the first two periods, 34-17, but Comrie held off the Hurricanes until the final minute of the second period when left wing Teuvo Teräväinen fired a pellet into the net during a 4-on-3 power play.
For a team coming out of a power play slump, scoring just once on its last 21 opportunities prior to puck drop, the Canes looked much better while up a man against the Jets. Before Teräväinen’s goal, Carolina had three power play opportunities that saw it do just about everything except find twine. Even though they didn’t score, the improved performances on the power play helped the Hurricanes offense build momentum leading up to that opening goal.
“The first three were really solid,” Brind’Amour said. “You’re looking to see if we’re creating any chances and we definitely did. The last one wasn’t so good, but that happens sometimes. … But the power play was good. That was the turning point to get us back into the game.
Right wing Andrei Svechnikov took the proverbial bull by the horns to engineer the game-tying goal early in the third period. Svechnikov rushed into the offensive zone with a head of steam, peppered a few solo shots towards the net until a rebound found defenseman Jaccob Slavin, who tucked the puck into the net.
Center and Winnipeg native Seth Jarvis gave Carolina its first lead of the night just over four minutes later. Teräväinen dished the puck to defenseman Brendan Smith who fired a bullet towards the net from the top of the offensive zone.
Comrie made the initial save, but the 5-foot-10, 175-pound Jarvis held his own in the slot, shimmying between Comrie and Nate Schmidt to sweep the rebound into the net. Winnipeg challenged the play for goalie interference, but the goal was upheld.
“That’s where you score a lot of goals in this league,” Jarvis said. “I’ve learned that just by watching other guys and I did what they told me. Just go to the net and good things will happen. Just weaseled my way between the D and the goalie and I was thanking God that it didn’t get called off.”
Goaltender Antti Raanta had a quietly good night on the other end of the ice. Although Raanta was too slow to get across and stop Kyle Connor’s game-opener, the 32-year-old Finn made several key saves down the stretch to keep Carolina in contention and later maintain its lead.
Raanta’s other allowed goal came on an impressive shot through traffic by Pierre-Luc Dubois in the first period. Dubois’ was the sort of goal that opposing netminders just have to tip their cap to, but Raanta ultimately got the job done with 20 saves.
The Jets upped their pressure on the puck as the minutes wound down, but center Jordan Staal sealed the deal in the final minute with an empty net goal. With just four games left in the regular season, Staal is getting hot just in time for the playoffs. After struggling to find the net for much of the season, Staal has scored seven goals in his last five games.
The Canes will travel north for their last road trip of the regular season, starting with the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, April 23. Puck drops at 12:30 p.m.
