Williams scores twice to help Hurricanes defeat Jets

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Justin Williams scored two goals in his second game of the season, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 at PNC Arena on Tuesday.

"Things just ended up on my stick today," said Williams, who signed a one-year contract Jan. 7 after announcing in September that he was taking some time away from the NHL. "I was the beneficiary of a couple really great passes. I'm feeling comfortable. I'm feeling better than I did the last game."
In his season debut Sunday, Williams scored the deciding goal in the eighth round of the shootout to help the Hurricanes defeat the New York Islanders 2-1.
WATCH: [All Jets vs. Hurricanes highlights]
Teuvo Teravainen had a goal and two assists, and Andrei Svechnikov had two assists for the Hurricanes (29-18-3), who have won two in a row. Petr Mrazek made 16 saves, and Carolina went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
Patrik Laine scored for the Jets (25-21-4), who have lost three in a row and five of their past six. Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves.
"[Our] team played its [butts] off tonight," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "I haven't liked some of our games, but that team played as hard as they could. I have no beef on the effort. The other team played good too."
Williams gave the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead when he redirected a pass from Teravainen for a power-play goal at 5:30 of the first period. It was Carolina's first goal on the power play in nine games (0-for-18).

"He just knows where to be, and he knows how to score," Teravainen said. "He was open in the middle, and it was a nice play by him."
The 38-year-old forward scored his second at 9:13 of the third period. He drove to the net, took a pass from Andrei Svechnikov and finished at the right post to make it 4-1.
"I just went as hard as I can to the back post, and the puck was right on my stick," Williams said. "I can score those into an empty net."
Martin Necas gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 2:28 of the first when he took a pass from Ryan Dzingel and cut to the net for a backhand inside the far post.

"That was the only option to do," Necas said. "He kind of closed the short side, and there was space to go (wide)."
After Williams made it 2-0, Laine cut it to 2-1 at 6:26 after Mark Scheifele fed him at the right hash marks for a wrist shot.
Carolina pushed the lead to 3-1 after Sebastian Aho followed his shot behind the net and set up Teravainen, who scored on a wrist shot at the left post with 1:38 remaining in the first.
The Hurricanes are 2-0-1 and have allowed three goals since all-star defenseman Dougie Hamilton broke his leg in a 3-2 loss at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 16.
"When you lose a player like [Hamilton], I don't think you're going to pick it up offensively," Hurricanes coach Brind'Amour said. "So there's got to be some other ways. I think our defensive corps, they're doing what they have to do and picking up slack here and there."

The game was Carolina's last before the All-Star break.
"I feel like I've pushed this group really hard because we have to," Brind'Amour said. "It's a good time to decompress, and they need it. Going into the break with some good feelings is important. It gets us, hopefully, refreshed when we come back because it's going to be another push to the end (of the season)."
Scheifele said, "There's nothing we can do about tonight. We battled hard. We've just got to play good hockey tomorrow. Battle, grind it out again, have everyone going and leave it all on the ice before the break."

They said it

"If some of those bounces weren't going their way or going against us right now, the first period wouldn't look nearly as bad. It's not bouncing for us for sure. There's an element of playing from behind every game that's pretty challenging in this League when you play against good teams." -- Jets captain Blake Wheeler
"He got a couple goals tonight, but [it's because] he knows how to play. I don't care how old you are, if you know how to play and you know where to go, that's kind of what he does. I don't expect him to do that, but it's not surprising." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour on forward Justin Williams

Need to know

The Jets have lost three in a row in regulation for the second time this season (Oct. 13-17). They have been outscored 16-4 during the losing streak. ...Teravainen has 11 multipoint games this season. … The Hurricanes are 14-3-2 against the Western Conference. They are 16-0-1 when leading after the first period.

What's next

Jets:At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Hurricanes:Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 31 (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)