Manitobans light the lamp as Winnipeg Jets fall 5-1 in Carolina – Winnipeg

Things are not going very well for the Winnipeg Jets right now.

The Jets could not capitalize on several scoring chances before the Carolina Hurricanes pulled away late in a 5-1 win Friday afternoon in Raleigh, the fourth straight defeat for Winnipeg and their eighth loss in their last 11 outings overall.

Winnipegger Seth Jarvis recorded a hat trick and Brandonite Jordan Martinook also scored as the Hurricanes beat the Jets for the second time in just a week.

The Hurricanes dominated much of the first period, but it was a four-goal final frame that really sunk the Jets to spoil goalie Thomas Milic’s NHL debut.

“We had a lot of guys who forgot to show up at the start of the game,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “That first period – we got the kid in net and we take two sloppy penalties. But we got stuck in there a few times, lost a lot of battles, some structure stuff that we got away from. The kid made some big stops and kept us in that one and obviously allowed us a chance.

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“You got to find a way to be better to not allow those moments to happen. We’re scrambling, we’re fighting, we’re fighting for our lives here.”

The Jets haven’t even had a lead the last three games and they’ve surrendered the game’s first goal in the last four in a row.

“The young and old, whatever, it’s part of your profession is being prepared for games,” Arniel said. “I guess I got to do a little bit more, scream a little bit longer or harder or whatever, but find a way to get these guys to be ready to play.”

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Mark Scheifele scored the Jets only goal in the loss and none of their forwards outside their top line have scored a goal the last four straight games.

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The Jets have now lost back-to-back games to start the five-game road trip as they enter a busy stretch with six games in the span of just nine days.

The game was tied until the Hurricanes scored four goals in the final 8:08.

“Those are the games we want to win,” said defenceman Josh Morrissey. “It’s disappointing we couldn’t find a way and it’s frustrating right now, but the best part of the NHL is we have a game tomorrow and a chance to right the ship here.”

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With Milic getting the start, it’s the first time since the 2018-2019 season the Jets have used three goalies in the same season.

Milic stopped 30 of 34 shots in his first ever NHL appearance and after learning on Wednesday he’d be in the game, his parents were able to fly in from British Columbia to witness his NHL debut. He allowed just one goal in the first 51 minutes before the Hurricanes scored two goals in only 47 seconds.

“They’re good shots and good goals but at a certain point you got to find a way to stop them,” Milic said.

Carolina controlled the first half of the period thanks to a pair of power play opportunities but were unable to get one past Milic.

With just under four minutes to go in the first, the Hurricanes struck first. Sebastian Aho won a race to the puck in the Winnipeg end and dropped it back to Shayne Gostisbehere, who drove down low towards the net, drawing lots of attention from the Jets’ defenders.

That allowed Jarvis to get open in the slot and bury a pass from Gostisbehere for his second goal in as many games against his hometown team this season.

Cole Perfetti had a golden opportunity to level the score when he found himself alone on a breakaway, but his shot was turned aside by Brandon Bussi to keep it 1-0 Carolina after 20 minutes.

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The Jets drew level just past the midway point of the second, taking advantage of an egregious error by Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov.

Carolina had the puck in the Winnipeg end as Aho dropped it off to Svechnikov near the point before Svechnikov tried to send a cross-ice pass to Jalen Chatfield. It was a terrible read as he sent the pass right to the tape of Gabriel Vilardi in the middle of the zone.

Thanks to Scheifele getting back in the play a little late, he was able to get free of Gostisbehere, take a pass from Vilardi, burst into the Hurricanes’ zone and wire a shot through Bussi at the 10:41 mark.

Winnipeg failed on a couple of power play looks in the second while Carolina also came up empty after Milic was called for delay of game for freezing the puck in the trapezoid, leaving the game tied heading to the third period.

The Hurricanes outshot the Jets 10-5 in the first and 10-5 in the second, but it was Winnipeg who had a glorious chance to grab the lead early in the third when Elias Salomonsson drifted down from the point and into the slot, took a pass and whipped a shot that rang off the crossbar.

Carolina also hit the post a couple of times in the third before they regained the lead at the 11:52 mark. Mark Jankowski wound up with the puck below the Winnipeg goal line and skated out from behind the net before finding Martinook in the slot. The Brandon native quickly released a shot that beat Milic, who was completely screened by Logan Stanley on the play.

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The goal opened the floodgates for Carolina as they doubled their lead 47 seconds later. Jarvis was able to take advantage of a breakdown in the Winnipeg defensive structure, finding all kinds of open ice in the slot before collecting a pass and firing it past Milic for his second of the night.

The Winnipegger finished off the hat trick with an empty netter with 63 seconds left, and Alexander Nikishin added insult to injury with another goal with 23 seconds to go.

Bussi only had to turn aside 12 shots, but he did have to make some high-quality stops.

The Jets will look to snap out of their slide Saturday when they visit the NHL-worst Predators. The puck will drop shortly after 6 p.m. with pregame coverage on 680 CJOB starting at 4 p.m.

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