The Carolina Hurricanes opened their Canadian road trip against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, Dec. 4, losing 2-1 in another disappointing offensive showing. Despite having 43 shots on goal by the end of the game, the Canes were unable to grab the win.
Carolina (14-9-1) traveled to Winnipeg (14-8-2) riding a high from defeating the Buffalo Sabres 6-2 a few days before. While the Canes were on an offensive tear leading up to this road trip — scoring three or more points in the past four games — the scoring drought reared its head once again.
The first frame was all Hurricanes with the team absolutely taking control of the ice, shooting 15 shots to the Jets’ three. Despite Carolina’s attempts, Winnipeg goalie Laurent Brossoit was unstoppable, making some playoff-worthy saves to keep the slower Jets in the game.
Winnipeg got on the scorecard first during the first frame. Left wing Kyle Connor was fed a cross-zone pass from left wing Nikolaj Ehlers that he easily shot past the shoulder of Canes netminder Antti Raanta. With one goal on only three shots, it appeared the Carolina defense was going to have a rough night alongside the offense.
The second period was a more even matchup between the two teams, with both Carolina and Winnipeg being almost even on shots. Both teams got on the scoreboard this period, starting off with the Jets just after the 11-minute mark.
Ehlers notched his seventh goal of the season on a top-shelf goal past Raanta. Fed by Winnipeg center Mark Scheifele, the winger took the puck and shot a perfect snipe past the Carolina defense and netminder to bring the game 2-0 in the Jets’ favor.
With less than a minute to go in the second period, it seemed like the Hurricanes would never get on the board, but center Martin Necas had other plans. Necas, who now has four points in his last three games, scored on a perfectly executed wrap-around goal. Now only down by one goal, it seemed like the lights were shining on the Carolina offense.
The third and final period was similar to the first — Carolina dominating on the ice with no goals to show for it. Outshooting the Jets 14-6, the Canes tried to tie the game up but garnered no results.
To finish out the game, the Canes had 21 shots blocked and missed the net 28 times, bringing Carolina’s number of attempted shots to 92. While it appears the offense isn’t afraid to take the puck to the net, the team is wasting energy and time by not taking high-quality shots.
Raanta made his first start since falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning 8-2 on Friday, Nov. 24. Since then, young gun Pyotr Kochetkov has taken some of the responsibilities, but Raanta was ready to get back between the pipes. Finishing with a .909 save percentage, the Finnish netminder took back control of the game and made some grade-A stops.
Carolina will stay on the road to take on the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 9:30 p.m.
