Hurricanes close homestand with fourth straight win

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Slowly but surely, the offense is coming for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin each scored his first goal of the season, and Cam Ward made 28 saves to help the Hurricanes to a 3-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets at PNC Arena on Sunday.
Carolina (7-6-4) closed out a five-game homestand with four straight wins.
"The last two games I haven't been shooting as much," Lindholm said. "Obviously when you haven't scored for 14 or more games, it's hard to keep going, believing in yourself. Hopefully now it will turn around."

Lindholm gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 6:45 of the first period. He skated in from low in the left faceoff circle and shot between defenseman Dustin Byfuglien's legs to beat Connor Hellebuyck high to the short side.
WATCH: All Jets vs. Hurricanes highlights
Hellebuyck made 37 saves for the Jets (9-10-2), who have lost three in a row to start a five-game road trip.
"These three games are done," Jets center Mark Scheifele said. "You can't worry about them anymore. Just focus on the next one. Learn from the last three and come back stronger for the next one. We worked hard and played more of our game."

Carolina pushed the lead to 2-0 in the third period with Mark Stuart in the penalty box for cross-checking. Rask scored his team-leading eighth goal after Lee Stempniak gathered a shot near the crease and quickly set up Rask for an easy finish at 2:39.
Scheifele cut the Carolina lead to 2-1 at 9:33 when Nikolaj Ehlers tracked down a long chipping attempt and centered for Scheifele charging through the slot.
Hanifin made it 3-1 with a one-timer on the power play set up by Justin Faulk at 18:17.
"[Lindholm] got one tonight, I got one tonight," Hanifin said. "It feels good obviously. I think it speak volumes about how our team is playing. We're competing really hard and winning games. Good things like that happen."
The Hurricanes had the top-rated penalty killing unit before the game (90.7 percent) and didn't allow the Jets to score on three attempts, extending their streak of kills to 19.

Goal of the game

Lindholm took advantage of Byfuglien, using him to screen Hellebuyck. The goal seemed to lift a burden for the 21-year-old forward, who later blocked three shots and made several nice passes.

Save of the game

Jordan Staal had a point-blank chance with 12:48 to go in the second period. Lindholm made a quick touch pass to Staal between the circles, but Hellebuyck stopped the snap shot with a quick glove.

Highlight of the game

Hanifin's goal was a glimpse of what the Hurricanes are hoping for from the 19-year-old defenseman. His end-over-end one-timer from above the faceoff circle was the fifth goal of his NHL career.

Unsung moment of the game

The Carolina penalty kill needed to be at its best with 6:50 remaining when Victor Stalberg was whistled for hooking. Ward made strong stops on Patrik Laine and Scheifele to preserve not only the unit's streak, but Carolina's one-goal lead.

They said it

"They gave what they had. They can barely see straight, can't pass the puck as well as they would like. They've got nothing left. They did what they could. That team played 17 [games] in 29 [days] and they've been all over God's green earth, playing a 5 o'clock game today. They're beat up and sore and tired." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice
"Good sign, good player. He's been doing good things all year. I'm not worried about him one bit. There's things to worry about in the world, and that's not one of them." -- Hurricanes coach Bill Peters on Elias Lindholm scoring his first goal of the season
"We've talked about it a lot, but this homestand was big for us. We wanted to pick up as many points as we could and we did a good job tonight closing it out. Now our job is taking it on the road and continuing the brand of hockey we've been building towards." -- Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner

Need to know

Staal won 19 of 22 faceoffs...The Jets skated shorthanded for 10:29...The Hurricanes had scored two power-play goals in the previous nine games...Ward extended his record against Winnipeg to 24-12-5...Byfuglien skated a game-high 28:43.

What's next

Jets: At the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, SNP, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)
Hurricanes: At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; TSN4, FS-SE, NHL.TV)