Just over a month ago, the Hurricanes held a 4-1 lead over the Jets with 15 minutes remaining in regulation, the team within reach of winning their first season opener since October 2010. Winnipeg scored one, then another and then another to force overtime. Mark Scheifele whipped the MTS Centre crowd into a frenzy with his goal in the extra frame, a
5-4 win for the Jets
.
The Hurricanes will see these moments and more in head-to-head video clips, as they prepare to close out their five-game homestand against the Jets on Sunday evening.
"We had a good 45 minutes, but we can't let that happen," Victor Rask said after practicing at Raleigh Center Ice on Saturday. "It's a new game tomorrow."
A new game, and a chance to enact some revenge.
"Say you get a win in regulation. So in the head-to-head series, you've got three points and they've got two," head coach Bill Peters said. "You've won the series."
Aside from the result and the small segment of the game that preceded it, there was much to like about the Canes' debut effort, including the fact that the team built a three-goal lead with goals from Jeff Skinner, Lee Stempniak, Jordan Staal and Rask. The Hurricanes, it seemed, were in control of the game.
"A lot of it went the way we wanted. There was a big segment of that game that was real good," Peters said. "We've just go to clean up some of the details. We're a different team, and they're a different team from then."
At 9-8-2 with 20 points, the Jets occupy one of the three playoff spots in the Western Conference's Central Division, but they're under hockey .500 on the road at 3-4-2 and have won just two of six games on the road in the month of November.
The Hurricanes, meanwhile, have strung together a three-game streak with wins over the Washington Capitals, San Jose Sharks and Montreal Canadiens.
"We're a much different team now, a better team," Peters said. "They've taken steps, too. They're a good team that's playing quick. We look forward to playing them again and should have a little bit of revenge on our mind."
"I think we learned a lot in those two games where we lost after having the lead," Rask said, citing the Canes' second game of the season in Vancouver that ended in eerily similar fashion. "We're a new team, and we have three wins in a row right now. We feel pretty good about ourselves."
