Winnipeg Jets fall to Hurricanes 4-3 in Ehlers’ return to Winnipeg

On a day where the hockey world learned that the Winnipeg Jets would be without star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck for the next little while, they faced a stiff test against the East-leading Carolina Hurricanes.

They availed themselves well but were unable to get the job done, falling 4-3 Friday night in a game that also featured the return of Nikolaj Ehlers to Winnipeg.

Before several fans had even taken their seats, the visitors broke the ice. A misplayed pinch by Neal Pionk allowed Brandon’s Jordan Martinook to get to the puck in the neutral zone and fire it across to Jordan Staal as he entered the Winnipeg zone.

He made a move to cut back inside on Dylan Samberg before wiring a shot past Eric Comrie, the puck crossing the goal line just 16 seconds after the opening faceoff.

But it didn’t take too long before the Jets drew level. With some Hurricanes going off for a change, Dylan DeMelo had the puck at centre ice and banked it off the boards for Mark Scheifele entering the Carolina end.

With all kinds of open ice and a 3-on-1 developing, Scheifele skated it deep into the Hurricanes end before dropping it back to a cutting Josh Morrissey. With Kyle Connor also near the net, Morrissey had options but chose to shoot it and his shot eluded Brandon Bussi to make it 1-1 at the 3:45 mark.

The Jets had to kill off a Gabriel Vilardi penalty and did so, with Carolina being called for their own penalty seven seconds after Vilardi came out of the box.

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Carolina managed to get a clear early in the power play but as Mike Reilly backpedaled with the puck in the neutral zone, he fired a pass right off the shin pad of Vilardi, the puck ricocheting right to Cole Perfetti who had nothing but clear ice between him and Bussi.

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As Perfetti got close to the net, and had two Hurricanes converging on him, he sent a pass to his right to Vilardi for an open-net tap-in to make it 2-1 Winnipeg at the 9:28 mark.

At the second media timeout of the period, a tribute video for Ehlers was shown at centre ice before the crowd gave Ehlers a big ovation for his ten seasons of service as a Winnipeg Jet. There was also a big cheer when he was shown on the screen during the Star Spangled Banner, but whenever he touched the puck during the game, there was a small smattering of boos.

Ehlers nearly tied the score when his wrister from the slot caught the skate of Comrie and careened high in the air, appearing to be heading for the net but DeMelo whacked it out of midair before it got across the goal line.

Winnipeg took their 2-1 lead to the second despite being outshot 12-11 in the opening 20 minutes.

It took Carolina just over three minutes to tie the game early in the second. The Hurricanes cycled the puck around the Winnipeg zone before K’Andre Miller sent a point-to-point pass across to Jalen Chatfield. He sent a hard pass to the slot where Staal steered it on goal and it eluded Comrie to level the score.

The Jets had a chance to regain the lead on the power play a few minutes later but it was Carolina who scored shorthanded to put themselves back in front.

Connor tried to pass the puck to Vilardi to enter the Hurricanes zone but Miller got a stick on the puck to break it up, allowing Sebastian Aho to skate onto the loose puck. He darted into the Winnipeg end and was denied on a partial breakaway by Comrie but Winnipegger Seth Jarvis trailed the play and banged home the rebound to make it 3-2 Hurricanes at the 6:31 mark.

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Carolina controlled play for most of the period, dominating possession time, outshooting Winnipeg 9-4 and out-attempting the Jets 23-8.

The Jets had their hands full to start the third, knowing that Carolina was 10-0 this season when leading after 40 minutes. Making matters worse, the Canes struck on the power play at the 3:19 mark to extend their lead.

Andrei Svechnikov picked up the puck in the corner to the left of Comrie and sent it to the opposite point where Ehlers was waiting for it. He drifted lower into the zone before whipped a perfect, no-look pass back to Svechnikov that he one-timed into the net to make it 4-2.

Winnipeg shaved the lead back down to one just 54 seconds later. After Miller lost the puck in the Winnipeg end, Connor picked it up and passed it across to Vilardi to start a 2-on-1. Vilardi held the puck as long as he could as he skated it deep into the Hurricanes end and tried to pass it back to Connor but his centering pass went off the skate of Chatfield and through the five-hole of Bussi.

The Jets started to press hard for the equalizer with less than half a period remaining, testing Bussi several times but the rookie was up to the challenge.

Comrie went to the bench for an extra attacker with 90 seconds but had to return to the net seconds later when the puck went out of play. He returned to the bench with 60 seconds to go as Winnipeg put on one last charge to try and tie the game, aided by a Carolina penalty for high-sticking with 51.1 seconds on the clock.

But they were not able to get one past Bussi before the clock ran out as the rookie, making his sixth NHL start, picked up his fifth win by making 24 saves, including 11 in the final 8:14.

Comrie turned aside 24 shots as well in his first of what should be many starts over the next four-to-six weeks.

The Jets will look to pick up a win in their final game of this three-game homestand Sunday afternoon against Minnesota. Pregame coverage begins at 1 p.m. with the puck dropping just after 3 p.m.