The Carolina Hurricanes Fall To The Winnipeg Jets In Paul Maurice’s Return To Carolina
By Brett Finger
The Carolina Hurricanes took on the Winnipeg Jets on home ice Tuesday night. Some key mental lapses and defensive miscues led to the Carolina Hurricanes’ 2-1 loss to former ‘Canes head coach Paul Maurice and the Winnipeg Jets.
Scoring Summary
The Winnipeg Jets opened the scoring at 12:57 of the second. Former Carolina Hurricanes first round draft pick Andrew Ladd was left all by himself in front on Anton Khudobin, and Michael Frolik found him with a nice pass on the rush. Nathan Gerbe and Andrej Sekera both covered Frolik on the Jets’ rush, which left Ladd wide open in front of Khudobin. Andrew Ladd was then able to put the puck in the Carolina Hurricanes net. Michael Frolik and Bryan Little got the assists.
The Carolina Hurricanes tied the game at one 2:42 into the third period. Drayson Bowman drove the net, and the puck bounced out to Riley Nash in front of Andrej Pavelec. Riley Nash then ripped a shot past the Jets’ goalie. Drayson Bowman and Tuomo Ruutu got the assists on RIley Nash’s seventh goal of the season.
Chris Thorburn striked with 1:03 left in the third period to give the Winnipeg Jets a 2-1 lead. After the Carolina Hurricanes failed to get the puck out of the zone, Jacob Trouba circle the Carolina Hurricanes net and found Chris Thorburn on the other side of Anton Khudobin. Thorburn then shot the puck into the wide open net.
Game Analysis
The Carolina Hurricanes had plenty of opportunities to score goals against the Winnipeg Jets, but they could only capitalize on one of them.
The game was a homecoming of sorts for Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice who coached the Hartford Whalers from 1995-1997, and the Carolina Hurricanes from 1997-2004 and 2008-2012. He coached a total of 920 games with the Carolina Hurricanes and Hartford Whalers.
Ondrej Pavelec played very well for the Winnipeg Jets. He made some pretty big saves, and he was the best player on the ice for the road team.
Anton Khudobin played a fantastic game for the Carolina Hurricanes. He made big saves for the Carolina Hurricanes, and he kept the team in the game until the final buzzer. It’s going to be hard to not start Anton Khudobin again on Friday night, but the Carolina Hurricanes also want to get Cam Ward back in the net. We will see what Kirk Muller and the Carolina Hurricanes’ coaching staff does this weekend.
Both goals scored by the Winnipeg Jets were because of mistakes made by the Carolina Hurricanes. Andrew Ladd scored off poor coverage from the combination of Nathan Gerbe and Andrej Sekera. The Chris Thorburn goal was the outcome of the Carolina Hurricanes not being able to get the puck out of the zone on multiple opportunities.
The Carolina Hurricanes seemed to play with a lack of desperation against the Winnipeg Jets. They played a lot of back and forth hockey with the Jets, and you do that against a fast and dangerous team like Winnipeg, you will get burned.
There was a lot of dumping the puck in the Winnipeg Jets’ end of the ice and chasing it, many times unsuccessfully. Scoring chances were there for the Carolina Hurricanes, but for whatever reason, they just weren’t able to score goals.
The power play was 0-3 against the Winnipeg Jets. That included a big 5-on-3 opportunity in the second period. The power play absolutely needs to get better, and that should be a top priority for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Coming off a big win against the St. Louis Blues on Friday, the Carolina Hurricanes should have played much better against a team like the Winnipeg Jets.
The loss hurts. There’s no two ways about it. It’s never fun to lose in the final minute of a hockey game, but the Carolina Hurricanes will have to move on and learn from this tough one.
The Carolina Hurricanes will now get a couple of days off before they take on the Florida Panthers at the PNC Arena on Friday night. That will be a big game for the Carolina Hurricanes. They will need to bounce back and pick up two much needed points against a team they should beat.