Eric Comrie made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Winnipeg Jets secured their seventh consecutive victory, blanking the visiting Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Nino Niederreiter had a goal and an assist for the Jets, while Neal Pionk and Rasmus Kupari were the other goal-scorers. Winnipeg is one victory away from matching the club best, achieved three times since the franchise began as the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999-2000.
In net for Carolina, Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 27 shots.
The Hurricanes thought they had scored first on a power play with 4:23 left in the first period when Jackson Blake found the back of the net. However, Jets coach Scott Arniel successfully challenged the play for goaltender interference, leading to the goal being disallowed.
Instead, it was the Jets who opened the scoring. With 42 seconds remaining in the period, Iafallo set up Niederreiter for a power-play goal. Iafallo drove into the slot, drawing the defenders’ attention and leaving Niederreiter open for the shot.
The Jets extended their lead early in the second period, capitalizing on another power play. Pionk collected a long rebound from a shot by Perfetti and quickly fired the puck past Kochetkov, making it 2-0 just 3:13 into the frame.
With 6:00 remaining in the third, the Jets saw a goal of their own disallowed when the puck was ruled to have been kicked in by Vladislav Namestnikov from just beyond the crease.
It looked once again as if the Jets would go ahead 3-0 with 3:43 left in the game, but the goal was waved off on the ice. The referees deemed that Kupari had interfered with Kochetkov after a battle in the crease. However, that call was overturned, and the goal eventually stood.
The Jets lead the league in power-play efficiency, while the Hurricanes have the best penalty kill. Winnipeg wound up winning the special teams battle by finishing the night 2-for-4 on the man advantage. Carolina was unsuccessful on its two power plays.
–Field Level Media
