WINNIPEG – The six-game homestand ended with yet another loss and this one was pretty much over in the first period as the Jets found themselves down 4-0 after twenty minutes and although they threatened late they fell 5-3 to Carolina and finished with one win and five losses during their latest homestand.
With the loss the Jets see themselves in a six-team tie for last overall in the NHL.
The Hurricanes got goals from Phillip Di Giuseppe his fourth, Andrej Nestrasil his sixth and seventh, Jordan Staal his 12th, Justin Faulk his 15th. Staal finished the game with three points and was dangerous all game.
“We got two points,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. “We got off to a good start, so there are some positives, but lots and lots of things to work on. We’re not quite where we were when we entered the All-Star break. We’ve got to get our team game back.
“I thought we did some good things structurally early, but then we got away from it and allowed them to build some momentum and get back in the game.”
Connor Hellebuyck started the game for the Jets but he was pulled after allowing three goals on six shots; it was his shortest outing of the season. Michael Hutchinson made his first appearance in the net since January 3rd and gave up two goals on 23 shots.
“We do have to learn how to play stronger with a lead like that and find ways to really [close out wins],” Staal said. “We’ll learn from this and keep going.”
Winnipeg came out slow and flat as the Hurricanes took it to them and it wasn’t until the second period when the Jets started turning things around and although the Hurricanes held a four goal lead the Jets did come back to make things a bit interesting at 4-3 before running out of gas.
“We knew they would be quick,” Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. “They were on us pretty good early. We weren’t quick enough.
“We didn’t give our goaltender an opportunity to hold that time, and our goaltender didn’t give us an opportunity to get through that time, where everybody was in on that.”
Dustin Byfuglien was the best Jet as he logged almost twenty-five minutes and had four shots on goal and had two assists. He was also throwing his weight around and was one of the few bright spots for the whole game.
Winnipeg got goals from Alexander Burmistrov who got his fifth of the season, Andrew Ladd notched his 12th a power play marker and Blake Wheeler got his 14th of the season.
“We let our play slip very poorly in the third,” Hurricanes defenseman Ron Hainsey said. “They really had us in our zone. Their [defensemen] were active and really didn’t let us out. They amped it up as you would expect, and we didn’t have our best response. We got out of it, so we’ll take it.”
The Jets will head out on a quick two-game road trip as they will face the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night and then take on the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.
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