Jets Fall 4-3 to Canes in ehlers' return
RECAP:
The Winnipeg Jets fell to 12-8-0 on the season with a 4-3 home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night.
A sellout crowd of 15,225 took in the return of Nikolaj Ehlers, who signed a big contract in Raleigh this offseason after 10 years in Manitoba.
He picked up the primary assist on the Hurricanes' game-winning, power play goal, as he set up Andrei Svechnikov for a cross-ice one-timer to give Carolina a 4-2 lead.
Winnipeg responded back with Gabe Vilardi's second goal of the game, but ultimately came up short with Eric Comrie on the bench and running a six-on-four man advantage as time ticked down.
Josh Morrissey had the other goal for Winnipeg, to which he extended his defensive point scoring streak to a franchise record-tying seven games (Dustin Byfuglien), and is now up to 11 points in his last seven outings.
Comrie managed 24 saves on the 28 pucks fired his way, and will need to be better as he will get the bulk of the work going forward, with Connor Hellebuyck on the shelf after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery for a minor ailment that will sideline the reigning Hart and back-to-back Vezina Trophy winner four-to-six weeks.
Next up is the final test of the three-game homestand, as the Minnesota Wild roll into town on Sunday afternoon.
HIGHLIGHTS:
PHOTOS:
The extended photo library from Friday's game vs. Carolina is courtesy of Scott Stroh:
QUOTEABLE:
Gabe Vilardi on what went wrong vs. Carolina:
“I don’t know if it’s what they did, I think it’s more about what we didn’t do. I think we know they play an aggressive style. We knew that coming in, obviously. I think we made a few too many mistakes at our blue line, at their blue line, just kind of feeding their transition.”
Scott Arniel on the Hurricanes' transitional play:
"Yeah. They're quick to go in the opposite direction, whether you turn the puck over in the offensive zone or coming through the neutral zone. They counter quick and they go the other way. I don't think it all turned into offence. It just turned into a lot more zone time than pure offence."
WHAT’S NEXT:
Next up for Winnipeg is a Sunday afternoon test against Minnesota before the Jets hit the road once again for a stretch of five games. Sunday's Central Division matchup will get underway at 3:00 PM central time.
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