Carolina Hurricanes Ground the Winnipeg Jets for Vital Points

Although the final score doesn’t show it, the Carolina Hurricanes dominated the Winnipeg Jets for the vast majority of sixty minutes.

The Canes may not have built up a 4-0 lead like they did last time these two teams met, but they didn’t need it tonight. They came out flying, and didn’t slow down throughout. The score may have only been 2-1, but it could have easily been 4-1 or 5-1 considering all of the missed opportunities and saves by Ondrej Pavelec. In the end, though, they did what they needed to do, and gained two points for their playoff push.

More from Cardiac Cane – Eric Staal and Cam Ward are not Thelma and Louise

Scoring Summary

1st Period

CAR Goal (10:33) – Jordan Staal ( 13), assisted by Elias Lindholm (18), Riley Nash (7)

Jordan Staal got into the dirty zone in front of the net, and was rewarded when he corralled a rebound from Lindholm’s shot, and lofted it over Pavelec’s out-stretched trapper.

2nd Period

CAR Goal (10:20) – Riley Nash (6), assisted by Noah Hanifin (10), Elias Lindholm (19)

Again, time in front of the net paid off for the Canes, as Pavelec and his defense were unable to control the puck after a Hanifin shot from the point, and Nash was able to clean up the debris.

3rd Period

WPG Goal (6:52) – Blake Wheeler (16), assisted by Jacob Trouba (9), Johnny Boychuk (15)

Good puck movement out to the point and across the blueline led to a Trouba bullet that was deflected by Wheeler sitting on the doorstep.

Three Stars

1st Star – Jordan Staal, C (CAR) – 1 goal, 4 shots, 2 hits, 19:26 TOI

2nd Star – Riley Nash, RW (CAR) – 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 shot, 3 hit, 9:47 TOI

3rd Star – Elias Lindholm, C (CAR) – 2 assists, 16:44 TOI

Recap

Although this game wasn’t the goal-scoring barn-burner that the Canes played on Saturday, it was a very strong showing by the home team.

Carolina dominated the first 40 minutes, outshooting the Jets 22-8 over the first two periods and taking a 2-0 lead into the third.

The final period was a much closer affair, with Winnipeg finally finding their legs and outshooting the Canes 13-7.

Carolina Hurricanes

The Hurricanes special teams stepped up, tallying both goals on the power play, and killing off all four penalties they faced.

Again the Jordan, Netsrasil and Nordstrom line was impressive, but Coach Peters asked even more of the lanky center tonight. Jordan was double-shifted a few times onto a line with Riley Nash and Elias Lindholm, and as you can see from the scoring summary above, it worked wonders.

The young defensive corps, still missing their veteran leader in Justin Faulk, stepped up again, and were very impressive. Jaccob Slavin seemed to be everywhere that the puck was in the Canes zone, and Noah Hanifin used his speed and hands a few times to get the Hurricanes some quality scoring chances and tally an assist on the second goal.

The Carolina Hurricanes picked up an all important two points to follow up on the three that they earned over the Stanley Cup celebration weekend.

Next: Hurricanes Playoff Battle - Tuesday, February 16th

Next up for the Canes, a matchup on Thursday in Ottawa to face the fading Senators, who are slowly falling out of playoff contention.