Carolina Hurricanes at Winnipeg Jets

Ehlers, Connor lead Jets to 2-1 win over Hurricanes

Mark Scheifele had two assists and Laurent Brossoit stopped 42 shots for Winnipeg, which won its second straight after a three-game skid.

“Today, I felt more like myself, more like I did last year,” said Brossoit, who was signed as a free agent during the offseason. “Now, I’m looking to harness that and continue on that path.”

Martin Necas scored for Carolina, and Antti Raanta made 20 saves. The Hurricanes had earned points in four straight games (3-0-1).

After being outshot 12-0 through the first 16 1/2 minutes of the game, the Jets opened the scoring with only their second shot on goal. Ehlers set Connor up alone in front of Raanta and he beat him cleanly with 3:02 left in the first period. It was his 15th of the season.

“It’s a huge win,” Ehlers said. “After our three-game losing streak there, to get back and get two wins in a row, we needed that. We needed to get back on track and play better.”

Brossoit looked sharp in the opening period when he faced 15 shots, many of them dangerous chances for the Hurricanes. He was forced to stop a point-blank shot from Carolina forward Teuvo Teravainen in the first minute.

“You’re not going to beat that team without great goaltending,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said. “They just throw everything they can at the net from every angle. Again, their forwards are all big, strong and fast and they get in there. They’re tough to defend."

Raanta robbed Winnipeg forward Gabe Vilardi, then stopped Scheifele on the rebound in the second minute of the second period.

The Jets made it 2-0 with 8:21 left in the second period as Ehlers capped off a pretty passing play from Connor to Scheifele, then to Ehlers in front for his seventh.

Ehlers also credited Brossoit, who made some incredible saves with the Hurricanes pressing late in the third period.

“He was pretty incredible,” Ehlers said. “He stood on his head. … Our goalies have been outstanding all year.”

Carolina pulled to 2-1 with 51 seconds left in the second period. Necas got credit for his seventh goal when Jets defenseman Dylan DeMelo inadvertently knocked the puck into his own net.

“I thought we pretty much dominated the first period and we’re down one,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “The middle period, we were even and the third period, again, we were pretty good. We had a lot of opportunities, we just weren’t able to find the back of the net.”

Raanta stopped Connor on a clear breakaway with about seven minutes left in the game.

“You can’t fault him on anything,” Brind’Amour said. “He kept us in there and did what he needed to do. Their goalie (Brossoit) was the difference tonight.”

The Jets announced before the game that they had signed forward Nino Niederreiter to a three-year contract extension.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: At Edmonton on Wednesday night.

Jets: At Colorado on Thursday night.

WPG leads series 1-0