Hurricanes knock Jets off course
Hanifin scores first NHL goal as Carolina makes it four straight wins
RALEIGH, N.C. — Victor Rask scored his eighth goal of the season and 19-year-old Noah Hanifin added his first, helping the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 on Sunday night for their fourth straight win.
Elias Lindholm also scored his first goal this season in the first period, and the Hurricanes kept up the pressure from there, challenging goalie Connor Hellebuyck with 40 shots.
Rask made the score 2-0 on a power play early in the third period, and after Mark Scheifele scored his 11th goal for the Jets, Hanifin put it away with a power-play score with 1:43 left.
Cam Ward made 28 saves for Carolina, which finished 4-1-0 on this homestand.
Lindholm got on the board 6:45 in. He swept in from the left side along the goal-line and ripped a shot past Hellebuyck on the short side.
The Carolina goalie was screened by Winnipeg defenceman Dustin Byfuglien and couldn’t find the puck.
Rask made it a 2-0 lead 2:39 into the third, taking a slick pass from Lee Stempniak in close and lifting it past Hellebuyck.
Scheifele took over the NHL points lead (23) when he narrowed the deficit to 2-1. The 23-year-old onetimed a pass from Nikolaj Ehlers after Ehlers raced after a loose puck in the corner.
Hanifin restored the two-goal lead with a hammered one-timer from the right point.
The teams also played to open the season, when Winnipeg rallied from two goals down to win 4-3 in overtime. Ward stalled the effort for a similar rally Sunday. He helped kill off a hooking penalty on Viktor Stalberg with about six minutes left by stopping three shots.
Carolina was perfect on the penalty kill for the ninth straight game. It killed three penalties Sunday and leads the NHL with a 91.1 per cent success rate, including 19 straight.