Jets fall short of perfect road trip with loss to Carolina

RALEIGH - In Rick Bowness' mind, the Winnipeg Jets saved their best for last on the road trip.
Despite the effort, the final result of the road trip finale is the one they'll like the least.
Carolina's Jesperi Kotkaniemi had two goals and an assist to push Carolina to a 5-3 win over the Jets on Tuesday night.
And outside of a few turnovers, Winnipeg's head coach really liked a large percentage of the game he saw.
"We held a high shot volume team to 24, 25 shots on net. They didn't have 10 scoring chances tonight," said Bowness. "So the team game was really, really good. So really happy with that. Did a couple guys have a tough night? Yeah, that's going to happen. But you move on."

The Jets (38-27-3) goals came off the sticks of Dylan DeMelo, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Nino Niederreiter, but it seemed every time the Jets either tied the game or got within one, Carolina had the answer.
"When you score a goal and get within one, you don't want to let another one in right away. We'll clean that up," said Ehlers. "We played a pretty good game today. We worked hard. Chipped them out. There were some things we weren't happy with. We did turn over a lot of pucks."
Jaccob Slavin put the Hurricanes ahead 1-0 just 4:37 into the game, as a rebound from his initial shot bounced off David Rittich, then Slavin, and ended up in the back of the net. It was the exact bounce Carolina was looking for after being shutout in each of their last two games.

Winnipeg got back on even terms just 19 seconds into the second. After Dylan Samberg stepped up and threw a hit at the Jets blue line on Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook, he drew the ire of a couple Carolina skaters. Play continued though, and DeMelo led a three-on-one up the ice and snapped home his fourth of the season to not only tie the game at one, but also tie his career high with four goals in a season.
The tie only lasted 38 seconds, as Brady Skjei's wrist shot from the left face-off dot beat Rittich high on the glove side, putting Carolina back on top 2-1.
Carolina made it 3-1 with 11:45 left in the second, when Kotkaniemi's wrap around snuck between Rittich's left skate and the post, giving Kotkaniemi 13 goals on the season.
That was the third goal that Niederreiter, Mark Scheifele, and Kyle Connor were on the ice for, which prompted Bowness to change the lines a bit in the third, flipping Mason Appleton and Niederreiter.
"Some nights, it's just not going your way," Bowness said. "It's more the other three lines were going, it wasn't going their way so we need them in the third and played them in the third."
Niederreiter wasn't as easy on himself.
"It was a really good game for most of our guys. Speaking for my line in particular, we didn't do our job tonight," he said. "We got scored on, obviously, and it wasn't good enough for us."

The visiting Jets pulled back to just one down early in the third, with Blake Wheeler sending a perfect seam pass off the rush to Ehlers on the left wing. Ehlers was wide open, and his snap shot beat Frederik Andersen through the legs 4:27 into the final period, giving Ehlers his seventh goal, and making the score 3-2.
After the Jets nearly tied the game - an Ehlers cross-crease pass just hopped the stick of Vladislav Namestnikov - Carolina pushed ahead 4-2. Jack Drury capitalized on a centering pass from Stefan Noesen, snapping a wrister just inside the post on Rittich's stick side. The goal, Drury's first of the season, came just 5:07 after the Jets had got within one.
The Ehlers line with Namestnikov and Wheeler out-chanced their opposition at five-on-five (in terms of high-danger chances) by a 3-2 margin according to Natural Stat Trick. But Ehlers was left shaking his head after the pass to Namestnikov didn't connect.
"I saw his stick backdoor but he couldn't see the puck. I have to shoot," he said. "I just thought if I hit his stick that's a goal. But when he can't see the puck, that's a little hard."
Once again, the Jets forced their way back into it, with Niederreiter cashing in on a Morgan Barron pass with 4:22 remaining in regulation. The goal extended the forward's point streak to seven games in a Jets jersey.

That's as close as the Jets would get though, as Kotkaniemi's empty-netter with a handful of seconds left sealed a 5-3 final.
"They're an elite team. They're a hardworking group," said Niederreiter. "They show up every single night and, like you said, we did play a tight checking game. They don't need a lot of chances to put the puck in the net. That was exactly the example tonight."
Next up, the Jets head home for one game against the Boston Bruins. They finished the road trip with four of a possible six points.
"The trip, overall, was definitely a good trip. But we could have made it a great trip tonight because they were definitely beatable," said Niederreiter. "I feel like we're playing some good hockey and are playing the way we should play. And like I said, my line, we've definitely got to show up next game."
ICE CHIPS
Josh Morrissey missed his second consecutive game with a lower-body injury. The defenceman took part in the morning skate, including line rushes, but just couldn't go against Carolina.
"I would say if it was a playoff game, he probably would have played.' Bowness said. "But we certainly don't want a setback at this point, with the injury. So we're certainly counting on him playing Thursday night against Boston."