Jarvis scores hat trick for Hurricanes in win against Jets

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Seth Jarvis scored a hat trick, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Winnipeg Jets 5-1 at Lenovo Center on Friday.

“I've just been focused on shooting pucks more, putting the puck to the net,” Jarvis said. “And I think my confidence hasn't really wavered. I still believe every shot should go in. So it's been that way all season and hopefully it continues.”

Jordan Martinook and Alexander Nikishin also scored, and Shayne Gostisbehere and Andrei Svechnikov each had two assists for the Hurricanes (15-7-2), who had lost two in a row. Brandon Bussi made 12 saves.

“It alleviates a lot of stress,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We’ve been playing well. We had one bad game in there (a 4-1 loss at the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 23), but the rest has been good hockey. It’s easy to get discouraged when it’s not working, but they stuck with it and we got rewarded tonight finally.”

Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets (12-11-0), who have lost four in a row. Thomas Milic made 30 saves in his NHL debut. The 22-year-old was selected by Winnipeg in the fifth round (No. 151) of the 2023 NHL Draft.

“We didn’t start very good,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “In the first period, we had a lot of guys who forgot to show up at the start of the game. We lost a lot of battles, and [there were] some structure things we got away from. [Milic] made some big stops and kept us in that one.”

Carolina took a 1-0 lead at 16:06 of the first period. Gostisbehere received a drop pass from Sebastian Aho and skated below the left face-off circle before sending a pass to Jarvis, who scored on a snap shot from inside the left hash marks.

Winnipeg capitalized on a turnover to tie it 1-1 at 10:41 of the second period. Gabriel Vilardi intercepted Svechnikov’s pass inside the Carolina offensive blue line and sent Scheifele in for a breakaway goal.

“A lot of times, you’re not going to feel like it’s going to be a pretty night in this building,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “But you’ve got to weather the storm and try to take advantage of your opportunities to score.”

Bussi kept the game tied early in the third period when he stopped Kyle Connor's short-handed breakaway at 5:49, stretching out with his right toe at the left post.

“You never know as a goalie when that moment will be, if there will be a moment, for a big play or something crazy to happen,” Bussi said. “So just kind of mentally staying with it. I think I got a pretty good plant on my back leg there to kind of keep myself from shifting over.”

The 27-year-old goalie, who made his NHL debut in a 5-1 win against the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 15, is 6-1-0 after being claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers on Oct 5.

“It’s not knowing when your next start is. Since he arrived on the scene, that’s kind of what it’s been,” Brind’Amour said. “Nothing but a great attitude, and at the end of the day, every start has been solid.”

Martinook made it a 2-1 lead at 11:52 of the third period, taking Mark Jankowski’s pass from along the goal line and scoring on a snap shot from above the right face-off dot.

“It's been tough sledding,” Martinook said. “I feel like I go through highs and lows, and it's been a little bit of a low, so I'll take that. I was calling for it. I wanted it and he saw me.”

Jarvis scored on a quick-release snap shot from the right hash marks off a pass from K'Andre Miller to make it 3-1 at 12:39.

Jarvis then made it 4-1 with an empty-net goal on a backhand from the left boards with 1:03 remaining to complete the hat trick, and Nikishin scored on a one-timer from the left point with 23 seconds left for the 5-1 final.

“They were great shots and great chances,” Milic said. “That’s what teams look to do, pull everyone wide and come back to the inside. They did a good job of finding that soft ice. But at a certain point, you’ve got to find a way to stop them.”

Milic learned he would make his first NHL start after Winnipeg’s 4-3 loss at the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.

“That was a goal for me before the game even started -- don’t take everything too seriously," Milic said. "Just take a second to take a couple deep breaths and soak it all in. At the end of the day, it was a lot of positives from my end. [I’m] pretty happy how a lot of the game went.”

NOTES: Winnipeg forward Morgan Barron won 10-of-13 face-offs. … Gostisbehere has five points (two goals, three assists) in a three-game point streak. … Hurricanes forward Justin Robidas earned an assist on Nikishin’s goal, his first point of the season in his second game. He has three points (one goal, two assists) in three career NHL games.