Right in the Nik of time
Ehlers’ third-period tally keeps Jets on course with another win
Nikolaj Ehlers scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season and it stood as the winner as the Winnipeg Jets edged the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 Saturday at Bell MTS Place.
Ehlers took a feed from captain Blake Wheeler and wired a shot from the high slot over the shoulder of Scott Darling 6:03 into the third period to help Winnipeg (3-20) win its third straight game after an 0-2 start to the season.
Bryan Little also scored for the Jets.
Jeff Skinner had a power-play goal for Carolina (1-1-1).
On the winner, Wheeler had the puck in the corner and waited for Ehlers to skate himself open. Ehlers, skating backward through the slot from Darling’s right to his left, took the pass and caught the Hurricanes goaltender going the wrong way, depositing a perfect wrist shot into the corner.
Ehlers’s goal was well timed for the Jets, who were in need of an offensive oasis after a second-period drought in which they mustered just four shots on goal.
Winnipeg drew first when Little scored his first of the season 13:33 into the opening frame. Patrik Laine gained the zone and had the puck slide off his stick to Ehlers, who centred it to the high slot, where Little was waiting to slide a shot along the ice and past Darling.
The Hurricanes didn’t take long to respond with Skinner putting away a power-play goal 1:45 later. Skinner, in the circle to the right of Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, snapped a shot over the shoulder of the Jets goalie and under the crossbar to make it 1-1.
Carolina clamped things down in the second period, allowing just four Winnipeg shots.
Hellebuyck stopped 28 shots to win his third straight game since starting the season behind Steve Mason on the Jets’ depth chart. Hellebuyck did well to preserve the win, flashing a glove-hand save on a wide-open slapshot from Jaccob Slavin with 1:35 to play that drew a loud ovation from the home crowd.
Darling, making his first road start as the Hurricanes No. 1 goalie, made 19 saves.
Since giving up 13 goals in their first two games, the Jets have allowed just five goals in the last three games, all with Hellebuyck starting.
Darling, acquired via trade from Chicago in April, has started all three games for the Hurricanes ahead of Cam Ward, the man who has been locked in as the top netminder for Carolina for the better part of the past 12 seasons.
The Jets won despite facing four penalties, three of which they killed off. Winnipeg came into the game with one of the league’s worst percentages when a man down, having surrendered five goals in 17 such situations.
Saturday marked the first time in three outings a Hurricanes game was decided in regulation. Carolina’s first two games each went to an extra period with a season-opening shootout win over Minnesota being followed by an overtime loss Tuesday against Columbus.