The Carolina Hurricanes (7-1-1) started off their road trip on a positive note as they defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 on Saturday afternoon. The win gave Carolina seven wins in a row and kept their record on the road without a loss.
Pyotr Kochetkov improved his record to 5-0-0 as he picked up the win. Kochetkov made a few outstanding saves, especially moving from side to side, but he was directly responsible for one goal when he misplayed a puck to the side of his net.
After a slow and scoreless first period, things picked up in the second.
Kochetkov tried to get the puck to Slavin, who kind of got it to Nikolaj Ehlers, who then whiffed on the puck while giving it to Mark Scheifele who made no mistake breaking in alone on the Carolina goalie.
The good news is that Mark Jankowski continued his scoring streak with a nice shot in front of the net during a power play. That made six straight games with a goal for the center, who is trying hard to replace Jordan Staal for now.
Kochetkov would misplay the puck a bit later and Alex Afallo took advantage by tucking it in the open net.
Once again the Hurricanes would come back, this time when Jesperi Kotkaniemi tipped in a Shayne Gostisbehere shot to make it 2-2. It was the first score for Kotkaniemi since sometime last season.
Even with the score tied, the Canes had taken control of the game at this point and outshot the home team, 17-6 in that second period.
In the third period, the Canes were awarded another powerplay chance and they took advantage. Ehlers made up for his earlier gaffe with a blast and that score held up the rest of the way.
Newcomers Bradly Nadeau and Felix Unger Sorem performed well in their first action of the season. Nadeau was credited with an assist and Unger Sorem was a plus +1 for the game.
Carolina outshot the Jets 37-23 for the game. For the first time since the Staal injury, they won the faceoff battle, 55% to 45%.
There is no rest for the weary as the Canes traveled to Calgary after the game to do battle with the Flames on Sunday evening with an 8 PM Eastern start time.
Game Summary – https://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20262027/GS020122.HTM
Event Summary – https://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20262027/ES020122.HTM