Hurricanes at Jets | Recap

WINNIPEG — Eric Comrie made 29 saves to help the Winnipeg Jets win their seventh straight game, 3-0 against the Carolina Hurricanes at Canada Life Centre on Tuesday.

“It feels great. It's always fun to get a shutout,” Comrie said. “Once again, the team was awesome in front of me. This is a fun group of guys to play with. I mean, this is unbelievable. Every single night they just battle as hard as they can, give it everything they've got and it's just a special team to be part of it. And I think myself and [goaltender Connor Hellebuyck] are very happy to play with this group we have.”

Nino Niederreiter had a goal and an assist, and Neal Pionk and Rasmus Kupari also scored for the Jets (38-14-3), who have won seven straight for the third time this season.

“It’s a tough league to win in, and it takes what it takes to get a win,” Niederreiter said. “Obviously, we knew how good Carolina is. They’re a high shot volume team, so we knew we had to get some blocks. I’m glad we found a way to win.”

CAR@WPG: Comrie makes 29 saves to blank Hurricanes in third NHL shutout

Pyotr Kochetkov made 27 saves for the Hurricanes (32-18-4), who have lost two straight after earning a point in their previous seven (6-0-1).

“I mean, they got two on the power (play). We didn't get any,” said Carolina forward Sebastian Aho, who will represent Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20. “The first one, goalie [interference] and all kinds of stuff, so I don't know. I feel like, yeah, special teams for sure cost us the game. It’s a tough loss. But 5-on-5 — that's a good team, they don't give up too much, but we had our looks for sure [and] enough chances to win the hockey game. But obviously we're not able to cash in and that’s kind of been the trend as of late here. It’s got to be better.”

Carolina appeared to take a 1-0 lead when it scored on the power play at 15:37 of the first period, but Winnipeg challenged for goaltender interference, and the call was reversed following a video review.

“It definitely changes, not the outcome, but the outlook of the game,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “If it goes in, we’re up one, we’re feeling pretty good. But obviously, we know how those go. Sometimes you win them, sometimes you don’t.”

Niederreiter then gave the Jets a 1-0 lead on the power play at 19:18 of the first when Alex Iafallo’s cross-slot pass set him up for a one-timer from the bottom of the circle.

“This was one of [Niederreiter’s] better games,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “He's played some good ones, some strong ones, but I thought tonight in all areas… His wall battles, when he's really on his game, he wins those whether it's on the breakouts or whether it's on the offensive side. He had a lot of situations where he was net front, had some rebounds, had some tips, created sort of the chaos that's around there, from just his big body being there. I think on Pionk's goal, he was the one battling on the wall to dig that out of there. So that's a lot of good things that you'd like to see from a guy like him, a big power forward."

CAR@WPG: Niederreiter and Iafallo combine for opening PPG

Pionk made it 2-0 at 3:13 of the second. He picked up a loose puck, skated down the slot and beat Kochetkov with a slap shot over his glove.

“Carolina is extremely aggressive, one of the most aggressive teams in the League on the PK,” Arniel said. “That came down to a three against three battle and we came up with the puck. [Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry] Orlov blocks a shot, but Pionk was ready to pounce on the next one and that’s the stuff we need to do.”

Winnipeg went 2-for-4 on the power play. Entering Tuesday, the Jets held the NHL’s top power play at 33.3 percent, while the Hurricanes had the best penalty kill at 86.3 percent.

“We knew that the power play was going to be a big part of their game, and that was the difference,” Brind’Amour said. “So, it really just came down to that. I thought both teams kind of had their opportunities at different times, but that was the difference in the game.”

Kupari jammed in his own rebound at 16:17 of the third for the 3-0 final.

“It’s something that you’re trying to implement, the buy-in from everybody, that everybody plays the same way when we don’t have the puck,” Arniel said. “The skillset is different for everyone but we try to do a lot of similar things. Our D-zone and how we play without the puck, there is no one way for one group and another way for another. That’s the buy-in part that happens from everybody.”

NOTES: The Jets became the fourth team in the past 20 years to record at least three seven-game winning streaks in the same season, joining the Boston Bruins (five in 2022-23), St. Louis Blues (three in 2019-20), Tampa Bay Lightning (four in 2018-19) and Anaheim Ducks (three in 2013-14). … Winnipeg’s seven shutouts are the second most in the NHL this season, trailing only the Ottawa Senators, who have eight. … Winnipeg holds an NHL-best 21-5-3 record on home ice this season. … The Jets have held opponents to fewer than 30 shots in 16 consecutive games. … Carolina defenseman Scott Morrow had two shots in 10:42 of ice time in his season debut after he was recalled from Chicago of the American Hockey League on Monday.