Winnipeg Free Press https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/home-ice-victory-for-jets-over- hurricanes-makes-it-three-in-a-row-after-shaky-start-to-season-450940003.html

Home-ice victory for Jets over Hurricanes makes it three in a row after shaky start to season

By: Mike McIntyre

They kicked off their season with a messy home opener that put fans in a foul mood. But the Winnipeg Jets enlisted some good housekeeping habits and tidied things up in their return to Bell MTS Place Saturday night.

No, it wasn’t pretty. But a 2-1 victory over the was another important step for a fragile franchise looking to finally clean up their act. It’s the third straight win for the Jets (3- 2-0) after starting the season with lopsided losses at home to Toronto and on the road in Calgary.

"Get used to it. Let’s hope," captain Blake Wheeler said following the game. "With the guys we’ve got on this team, if we commit to playing a style like that it’s going to be tough (on the opponent)."

Nikolaj Ehlers brought the crowd to life when he used his blazing speed to break a tie with just over 14 minutes left in the third period. He flew down the wing, circled behind the Carolina net and dropped the puck for Wheeler, then took the return feed in the slot and beat goalie Scott Darling with a wrist shot for the game-winner. It’s his team-leading fifth goal of the season, all coming in the past three games.

"I’m feeling good. I feel comfortable out there and I’m using my speed as much as I can. I’m playing with two great players, they’re making it easy for me," said Ehlers.

Both teams possess plenty of skilled, offensive weapons and are currently icing the two youngest rosters in the league. But aside from the Ehlers goal, this one took on the tone of a pair of squads desperate to focus on their defensive games and afraid of doing too much with the puck. The result was a choppy affair that seemed stuck in neutral for much of the night.

"As tough as it was, they were good enough. Some nights you just got to find a way to be good enough," said coach Paul Maurice. "I’m not here trying to convince anybody that was well played. That game was going to be played like that, was going to look like that, with these two teams and the style of play."

Carolina was playing for just the third time in 11 days and coming off three days of rest. Winnipeg was returning from a three-game western road trip, which coaches and players warned earlier in the day could make for some ugly hockey.

Dustin Byfuglien, making his return to the lineup after missing the previous two games with a lower-body injury, set the tone just a few minutes into the game with a sliding play to break up a two-on-one rush. His defensive commitment had been called into question after his first two games, so this no doubt brought a smile to the coach’s face.

"He’s a big strong man, and his game was completely under control tonight," said Maurice.

The Jets opened the scoring with just over six minutes left in the first. Bryan Little finished off an odd-man rush by firing home a low shot that just slid past Darling. Ehlers made a nice drop pass to set it up, with Patrik Laine drawing the other assist.

Mathieu Perreault took a tripping penalty less than a minute later, and Carolina made them pay. Jeff Skinner — playing in his 500th career game — beat Connor Hellebuyck with a shot over his shoulder and just under the crossbar.

The trio of Little-Ehlers-Laine had another dangerous rush moments later and drew a slashing penalty. Laine fired a rocket off his stick that rattled the post but stayed out to keep it tied.

Neither team mustered much in the middle frame. The Jets didn’t even record their first shot of the period until it was more than halfway done, as Mark Scheifele’s shorthanded breakaway was denied by Darling.

"There was no panic, nobody trying to do their own thing or trying to create offence out of nowhere. Straight lines, we used our speed, used the back of the net," said Wheeler. "When in doubt, get it to the fly guy (Ehlers) over there and he’ll take care of the rest."

After taking the lead the Jets locked it down the rest of the way. Hellebuyck was solid once again in his third-straight start in net, stopping 28 of the 29 shots he faced including a flashy glove stop with 1:35 left and Carolina pressing for the equalizer.

"The glove save, I had a very clear shot of it. It was mine to grab. He made a good shot. That’s what I’m there for. I think that goes back to the guys in front and keeping it to the outside and letting me see things. Those are the big keys to the game," said Hellebuyck.

Winnipeg didn’t win three-in-a-row until their 54th game last season — failing on nine previous chances to extend two-game win streaks. They didn’t waste much time doing it this season, something their coach said will build confidence given the style of play needed for success.

"I don’t think we could have opened it up. I don’t think we made enough 10 foot passes to open up anything, except a can of worms had we not continued to do it," said Maurice.

The Jets finished the game down a couple of players. Both Perreault and Dmitry Kulikov were shaken up early in the third and went to the dressing room. Neither returned to action. Kulikov took a big hit and skated slowly off the ice, while it wasn’t clear what happened to Perreault. Maurice said both players will be further evaluated on Sunday. Tanev earned a promotion to the line with Little and Laine in Perreault’s place.

Winnipeg continues their three-game homestand by hosting Columbus on Tuesday and Minnesota on Friday. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/big-buff-back-on-the-ice-tonight-against- carolina-450904953.html

Big Buff back on the ice tonight against Carolina

By: Mike McIntyre

Dustin Byfuglien returns to the lineup tonight — forcing Tucker Poolman to the press box - as the Winnipeg Jets host the Carolina Hurricanes.

Byfuglien has missed the past two games in Edmonton and Vancouver dealing with a nagging lower-body injury. That opened the door for Poolman, the first-year pro out of college who impressed many as the Jets rebounded from an 0-2 start to their season by reeling off a pair of consecutive road victories.

"Ready to go. It’s just one of those things that crept into my game. Got to rest it early. It started in training camp and tried to taking care of it as much as possible. We did the right thing, we got on it early," Byfuglien said following this morning's skate at Bell MTS Place. "It’s definitely nothing big. It’s something that can drag for a long time. If you can take care of it early you won’t lose much time."

He goes back into a familiar paring with Toby Enstrom. Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey are together, while Tyler Myers and Dmitry Kulikov are the third pairing.

Connor Hellebuyck will make a third straight start in net for the Jets. Coach Paul Maurice said his performance and a lack of practice time for Steve Mason, who struggled in his first two starts, made it an easy call.

Adam Lowry is out of the lineup tonight with an upper-body injury. Joel Armia, a healthy scratch the past two games, will dress in his place.

"We’re quite hopeful that this will be enough to get him back in," Maurice said of Lowry sitting one out. "He had it going into the (Vancouver) game. It didn’t improve and started to deteriorate toward the end of the game so we’ve just got to jump on this early. It shouldn’t be anything long term."

The Jets top two lines remain intact, with Mark Scheifele between Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers and Bryan Little centering Patrik Laine and Mathieu Perreault. Nic Petan will skate on a line with Armia and Marko Dano. Andrew Copp, Shawn Matthias and Brandon Tanev are the other trio.

"It's going to be a fast game tonight. It’s going to be a tough, hard fought game. The key to winning this game is for us to just keep playing the way we’re playing and get better. We were good defensively the last two games, and that’s something we have to get better at. We’re going to get our chances. Defensively, we just got to stick together," Ehlers said this morning.

Carolina has only played two games this season, both on home ice. They beat Minnesota in a shootout last Saturday, then lost to Columbus in overtime on Tuesday night.

"They’re very very quick. They’ll be ready. So their message in their room is real simple. These guys just came off the west coast, we all know what those trips are, lets hop on them early," Maurice said of the Hurricanes. "They’ve got a tremendous amount of quickness, they’ve got an outstanding power play so we need to be real disciplined with our sticks. And that’s a challenge with their quickness. A simple game for us really is most important."

Puck drops tonight at 6 p.m.

Winnipeg Sun http://www.winnipegsun.com/2017/10/14/jets-top-canes-winning-streak-hits-three

Jets' top Canes, winning streak hits three

BY KEN WIEBE, WINNIPEG SUN

It’s an item that wasn’t necessarily high on the to-do list for the Winnipeg Jets, but it also represents something all playoff teams do with regularity.

Stringing victories together is commonplace for contenders, but on nine separate occasions last season, the Jets won consecutive games but were unable to get over the hump and win three straight.

That changed in Game 54, when the subject was put to bed after a victory over the Dallas Stars.

An inability to go on a lengthy streak was one of many reasons the Jets failed to qualify for the post-season once again.

The subject didn’t even have time to grow into a storyline this season, as the Jets have already exorcised that potential demon, earning a 2-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday at Bell MTS Place.

“We don’t really care about win streaks. We want to win every game,” said Jets centre Mark Scheifele, who had a strong game despite being held off the scoresheet. “If something goes wrong and we don’t (win), we hit the reset button and we go back to work. That’s what good teams do. They have short memories.”

Jets head coach Paul Maurice saw a little more importance in the feat than his top-line centre.

“(It shows) that you can do it. You have that good feeling,” Maurice said. “It’s a challenging month for us. (It provides the) belief that you can get on a roll.”

And after getting off to a pretty ugly 0-2 start, the Jets are suddenly riding high and on a three- game streak heading into Tuesday’s match-up with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Saturday wasn’t the prettiest game.

Some might suggest it was downright ugly.

For a good chunk of the first two periods, the Jets didn’t have their usual skating legs and they weren’t crisp in the offensive zone.

They didn’t generate much offence either, limited to 12 shots on goal (including a span of 11:22 without a shot on goal to start the second period) after 40 minutes of play.

But during the third, the Jets dug down and found a little extra jam and got the eventual game- winner from Nikolaj Ehlers at 6:03.

Ehlers, who has five goals and seven points during the past three games, used his blazing speed earlier in the shift to create some separation, made his way to the slot and buried a shot high to the blocker side of Scott Darling.

For the third time in as many starts, Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck provided a solid effort, making 28 saves to lower his goals-against average to 2.11 and raise his save percentage to .927.

Hellebuyck wasn’t under siege, but he made the saves he needed to make — including a glove save off Hurricanes defenceman Jaccob Slavin late in the contest.

Jets captain Blake Wheeler was making no apologies for an effort that may have lacked style, but carried plenty of substance.

“Oh man, we’ve been talking about defence for six months and now we talking about we don’t have enough offence?” asked Wheeler. “Get used to (the Jets grinding it out). Let’s hope. With the guys we’ve got on this team, if we commit to playing a style like that it’s going to be tough (on the opponent). Carolina is one of the tougher teams to play. (They have) great sticks and there was no room all over the ice. (Maurice) did a great job of preparing us for that, showing us what they do well. Through two periods, we had 10 shots (on goal) and everyone was comfortable. There was no panic, nobody trying to do their own thing or trying to create offence out of nowhere.”

The Jets knew what to expect and didn’t stray from their structure.

“There wasn’t going to be any easy ice, there weren’t going to be three-on-two’s, there weren’t going to be odd-man rushes,” Wheeler said. “So if that’s the game we were going to look for, it was probably going to be 3-1 or 4-1 for Carolina. So we were prepared for our opponent tonight and the thing that makes me most proud of our group is that we never gave in. We were OK grinding it out and we were okay being greasy. We were OK letting our fans sit on their hands for two periods. That’s a great sign.”

That’s a dramatic change from the first two games of the campaign, when the Jets started well but went astray after falling behind in losses to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames.

That in itself represents progress.

“We just found a way to win a hockey game against a team that hadn’t lost a regulation game and had played solid hockey,” Maurice said. “It was good. I’m not here trying to convince anybody that was well played.”

This was more about resisting the temptation to try and open things up in a tie game on a night when the Jets didn’t have their best.

Doing so allowed the Jets to need only five games to put together their first three-game winning streak.

If the Jets remain committed defensively, it won’t likely be their last — or their longest. http://www.winnipegsun.com/2017/10/14/byfuglien-a-force-in-return-to-jets-lineup

Byfuglien a “force” in return to Jets lineup

BY KEN WIEBE, WINNIPEG SUN

Dustin Byfuglien was a welcome addition to the Winnipeg Jets lineup on Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Byfuglien, who sat out the past two games with a lower-body injury, was a physical force in a 2- 1 victory, logging 24 shifts for a team-high 24:14 of ice time.

The big blue-liner was only credited with two hits officially, but he threw his body around plenty and made a smart defensive play early in the contest, diving to break up a two-on-one rush.

“I thought the third period especially, he kind of changed the way that game felt,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. “He’s a big strong man, and his game was completely under control tonight.”

Byfuglien said the soft-tissue issue first came up for him during training camp and it flared up during the game last Saturday against the Calgary Flames.

“It’s definitely nothing big. If you take care of it early, you won’t lose much time,” said Byfuglien, who played alongside Toby Enstrom as the Jets opened a three-game homestand at Bell MTS Place. “It’s just one of those things that crept into my game. Got to rest it early. It started in training camp and tried to taking care of it as much as possible. We did the right thing.

“It’s never fun sitting out. When your team wins, it’s good all around.”

Maurice said Byfuglien’s presence was missed during his absence.

“He’s such a force,” said Maurice. “We miss him on the back end of the power play, (with) that shot threat and the movement that that group has.”

Poolman impresses Byfuglien replaced Tucker Poolman, the rookie blue-liner who didn’t look out of place during his first two games of NHL action.

Poolman had no points but averaged 14:29 of ice time as he played almost exclusively at even strength on a pairing with Enstrom.

“(Poolman) was great,” said Jets captain Blake Wheeler. “He just kind of played right into that game plan, kept it really simple. Made the right plays. He was tough to get by, always seemed to get the first touch on pucks. Pretty impressive.”

Byfuglien was also impressed, though he started his answer to a question about Poolman with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek.

“The (NHL) game is a lot easier than the college game, I’ll tell you that. Boys aren’t running as hard,” quipped Byfuglien. “You know, he’s done well. He has good gaps and always right there on the guy. That’s something that’s not easy to do sometimes.”

Poolman could return to the lineup soon as Tuesday, as defenceman Dmitry Kulikov left Saturday’s game early in the third period with a suspected knee injury after taking along the boards from Hurricanes forward Brock McGinn.

The Jets also lost forward Mathieu Perreault to a lower-body injury.

Although he keep out for a shift in the opening minute of the third period, Perreault locked skates with Hurricanes centre Derek Ryan late in the second and fell to the ice awkwardly.

Maurice didn’t have an update on the severity of the injuries and the Jets don’t return to practice until Monday.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS Jets centre Adam Lowry sat out Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury, creating an opportunity for right-winger Joel Armia to return to the lineup after sitting out the previous two games as a healthy scratch.

Armia was a key contributor to the Jets third line last season, chipping in a career-high 10 goals and 19 points in 57 games.

He started the season in that role as well, though he was slowed by a lower-body injury during training camp and that set him back according to Maurice.

Armia has offensive upside and is a smart penalty killer, but needs to work on his consistency and pick up his pace.

After the injury to Perreault, Armia got a promotion to the third line and finished with one shot on goal and one blocked shot in 10:44 of ice time.

The internal competition among the forward group should only intensify with the return of Lowry (who is officially day-to-day and could be back for Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets).

“We’re quite hopeful that this will be enough to get him back in,” said Maurice. “He had it going into the (Thursday) game (against the Vancouver Canucks). It didn’t improve and started to deteriorate toward the end of the game so we’ve just got to jump on this early. It shouldn’t be anything long term.”

Veteran forward Matt Hendricks skated again on Saturday morning and could be activated from injured reserve next week after missing the first five games with a foot injury after blocking a shot in the final minute against the on September 27.

MASON ON DECK? In discussing on Saturday morning why he gave goalie Connor Hellebuyck a third consecutive start, Maurice cited two important factors: Hellebuyck’s strong play in two consecutive victories and the schedule.

Hellebuyck did an excellent job in his first two starts of the campaign, turning aside 37 shots against the Edmonton Oilers and 30 more against the Vancouver Canucks.

Since the Jets used Friday as a travel day instead of flying home after Thursday’s game, it basically erased the opportunity to go back to veteran Steve Mason.

“We’ll get Steve some practice time and look at him for Columbus,” said Maurice, referring to Tuesday’s game.

I was among those who thought Mason was in line to start Saturday’s game against the Hurricanes.

The first two starts didn’t go well for Mason, who gave up 11 goals and is sporting a 6.53 goals- against average and .831 save %, but he didn’t get much support either.

It was obvious the Jets clamped down defensively since the first two games of the season and Mason should benefit from that whenever he returns to the crease.

Canadian Press http://www.chrisd.ca/2017/10/14/ehlers-lifts-jets-hurricanes-2-1-leads-winnipeg-fifth-goal- season/#.WeOISFtSzIU

The Canadian Press » Ehlers Lifts Jets Over Hurricanes 2-1; Leads Winnipeg with Fifth Goal of Season Ehlers Lifts Jets Over Hurricanes 2-1; Leads Winnipeg with Fifth Goal of Season

By David Larkins, The Canadian Press

WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Jets and Carolina Hurricanes both made moves in the off-season in search of a No. 1 . The Hurricanes found theirs, while the Jets answer was seemingly right there all along.

Nikolaj Ehlers’s team-leading fifth goal of the season was the winner and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 28 shots to win his third straight game as the Winnipeg Jets earned a 2-1 win over Carolina on Saturday at Bell MTS Place.

The Jets are 3-0 in games Hellebuyck starts after going 0-2 in front of Steve Mason, who was signed as a free agent in the off-season as the supposed answer to the Jets’ need for a veteran starter.

Yet it’s been Hellebuyck, the third-year pro who started 56 games last season, who has been the one to put his thumbs into the Jets’ leaky boat. Since giving up 13 goals in their first two games, the Jets (3-2-0) have allowed just five goals in the last three games.

“I’ve been working all summer for this,” Hellebuyck said. “You can see the guys blocking shots, working really hard, really grinding the other team down, keeping everything to the outside. I’ve been saying it the last three games and it’s been true every single game: I think the guys in front of me have been playing outstanding.”

On the game-winner, Ehlers took a feed from captain Blake Wheeler and wired a shot from the high slot over the stick-side shoulder of Scott Darling 6:03 into the third period to break a 1-1 tie.

“We just found a way to win a hockey game against a team that hadn’t lost a regulation game and had played solid hockey,” said Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice. “I’m not here trying to convince anybody that was well played. That game was going to be played like that, was going to look like that, with these two teams and the style of play.”

Ehlers’s goal was well timed for the Jets, who were in need of an offensive oasis after a second- period drought in which they mustered just four shots on goal.

Darling, making his first road start as the Hurricanes No. 1 goalie, made 19 saves.

Darling, acquired in a trade with in April, has started all three games for the Hurricanes instead of Cam Ward, the man who has been locked in as the top netminder for Carolina for the better part of the past 12 seasons.

“He gives us a chance every night,” said Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters. “There he is again tonight, two goals against. It’s a race to three in the . You’ve gotta be able to get to three to get a point, if not two points, and we didn’t do that here.”

Saturday marked the first time in three outings a Hurricanes game was decided in regulation. Carolina’s first two games each went to an extra period, with a season-opening shootout win over Minnesota being followed by an overtime loss Tuesday against Columbus.

Afterwards, Darling accepted the brunt of another one-goal loss.

“That’s my job is to stay ready the whole time,” he said. “Gotta make the saves. I gotta be sharper, battle through traffic and get used to those broken plays. That’s something you can’t recreate in the off-season, so it’s going to get better as the games go here.”

Ehlers also drew an assist on Bryan Little’s first-period goal, his first of the season, that put Winnipeg up 1-0 13:33 into the game.

“It’s going the right way,” Ehlers said of his recent string of points. “I’m feeling good. I feel comfortable out there and I’m using my speed as much as I can. I’m playing with two great players and they’re making it easy for me.”

Jeff Skinner, playing in the 500th game of a career spent entirely with Carolina, scored a power- play goal to tie the game 1:45 after Little’s goal.

“I just think we need to be more hungry. Just more hunger and more desperation,” Skinner said. “It’s disappointing when that’s the reason because that’s in your control.”

NHL.com https://www.nhl.com/news/carolina-hurricanes-winnipeg-jets-game-recap/c-291935236

Ehlers helps Jets past Hurricanes Forward gets goal, assist in Winnipeg's third straight win by Scott Billeck / NHL.com Correspondent

WINNIPEG -- Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 2-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Bell MTS Place on Saturday.

Ehlers took a pass from Blake Wheeler in the slot and put a wrist shot past Scott Darling to break a 1-1 tie at 6:03 of the third period.

Ehlers has seven points (five goals, two assists) in his past three games. Wheeler's assist was his fifth of the season.

"It's going the right way," Ehlers said. "I'm feeling good. I feel comfortable out there and I'm using my speed as much as I can. I'm playing with two great players (Wheeler and Mark Scheifele). They're making it easy for me."

Bryan Little also scored for the Jets (3-2-0), who won their third straight game after beginning the season with back-to-back losses. Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves and is 3-0-0 this season with a 2.11 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage.

"I've been working all summer for this," Hellebuyck said. "You can look at my past, I've always had good teams and good players in front of me. I think it's the same here. You can see the guys blocking shots, working really hard, really grinding the other team down, keeping everything to the outside."

Jeff Skinner, playing in his 500th NHL game, scored for the Hurricanes (1-1-1), who played their first of four straight games on the road. Darling made 19 saves.

"Obviously not many people get to play in the NHL at all, and I think to play 500 and to play with one franchise is a pretty cool achievement," Skinner said. "It just shows that they've had some trust in me, and it's pretty cool."

Little made it 1-0 at 13:33 of the first period after Ehlers found Little in the slot for his first of the season.

"We weren't playing up to our standards," Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal said. "Maybe in the second period we started taking over a little bit and we still weren't skating the way we can and executing the way we can and creating offense the way we know we can."

Skinner tied the game 1-1 with his second of the season at 15:18 on the power play. Skinner took a pass from Noah Hanifin at the left circle, and his wrist shot beat Hellebuyck high on his blocker side.

"From where we were a week ago to where we are now, in terms of being able to handle that on the bench," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "Everybody knew [we were] off, you could feel it at the morning skate with them dragging themselves around. We knew it was going to be that sort of game."

Goal of the game Ehlers took the puck down low and dropped it for Wheeler, who continued circling in the Hurricanes zone. Ehlers moved out into the slot and Wheeler made a quick pass from the corner to find him for the game-winner.

Save of the game Hellebuyck got his glove hand on a slap shot from Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin to preserve a 2-1 lead with 1:35 remaining in the third period and the Hurricanes net empty.

Highlight of the game Darling stopped Wheeler in-close, then sprawled across his crease and got his glove on Schiefele's wrist shot to keep the game tied 1-1.

They said it "There was a short little stretch there where we were good in the O-zone and we looked like we were starting to get a little quicker, but I didn't think we made very good decisions with the puck for the most part throughout the game and our execution with the puck left a little bit to be desired." -- Hurricanes coach Bill Peters

"We don't really care about win streaks. We want to win every game. If something goes wrong and we don't, we hit the reset button and we go back to work. That's what good teams do. They have short memories." -- Jets forward Mark Scheifele

Need to know Jets forward Mathieu Perreault and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov left the game because of lower- body injuries in the third period and did not return. There were no updates after the game. … Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien played 24:14 after missing two games because of a lower- body injury. … Skinner has two goals in as many games.

What's next Hurricanes: At the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SNOL, FS-CR, NHL.TV) Jets: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, FS-O, NHL.TV)

TSN.ca (VIDEO LINK) http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/video/ehlers-helping-jets-with-early-season-turnaround~1232359

Ehlers helping Jets with early-season turnaround

With five goals in five games for the Jets, Nikolaj Ehlers has been an integral part of Winnipeg's offence. Jamie McLennan takes a closer look at his game-winning goal against the Hurricanes. www.winnipegjets.com https://www.nhl.com/jets/news/ehlers-scores-the-winner-as-jets-edge-hurricanes/c-291941856 (INTERVIEWS INCLUDED)

Ehlers scores the winner as Jets edge Hurricanes Jets win third straight to open home stand by Mitchell Clinton @MitchellClinton / WinnipegJets.com

WINNIPEG - They knew it wasn't going to be easy, and got exactly what they expected.

However, the Winnipeg Jets also got the result they wanted.

The final score at Bell MTS Place read 2-1 in favour of the Jets over the Carolina Hurricanes, and Blake Wheeler said the team came in mentally prepared for a tight-checking 60 minutes.

"Carolina is one of the tougher teams to play - just great sticks, no room all over the ice. Paul did a great job preparing us for that, and showing us what they do well," said Wheeler. "Through two periods we had 10 shots, and everybody was comfortable.

"There was no panic, there was nobody trying to do their own thing, and try to create offence out of nowhere."

The offence did come though. After killing off a penalty, the Winnipeg Jets opened the scoring. Patrik Laine left the puck for Ehlers on the right wing, and Ehlers slid a nifty feed to Bryan Little and the top of the circle. Little wasted no time burying his first of the season, a low shot to the stick side of Scott Darling.

The Jets couldn't keep the Hurricanes power play quiet for long though. With Perreault in the box for tripping, Noah Hanifin sent a pass from the point to Jeff Skinner - playing in his 500th game - who ripped a wrist shot off the bar and in past Hellebuyck.

But that was the only puck to get by Hellebuyck on this night. In total, he turned aside 28 of 29 shots for his third win in three starts. But Hellebuyck deferred the credit to the players in front of him.

"You can see the guys tonight blocking shots, working really hard, and grinding the other team down and keeping everything to the outside," Hellebuyck said. "I've been saying that for the last three games, and it's been true every single game. I think the guys in front of me have been playing outstanding."

Neither team could break the tie in the second, with the Jets best chance coming after an extended amount of zone time for Carolina.

After Mark Scheifele got the team's first shot of the middle frame 8:38 in to the middle frame, the line of Shawn Matthias, Andrew Copp, and Brandon Tanev went to work. Tanev gained the zone off the rush, and seconds later it was Tanev with the shot from the slot that was stopped by Darling. A scramble ensued in front of the Carolina net, but no Jet could bang in the loose puck.

"This one was circled on the calendar from the start of the year with how Carolina plays. I don't know that I thought we moved the puck exactly as unusually as we did through two periods," said Maurice. "From where we were a week ago to where we are now in terms of handling that on the bench … You knew it was going to be that kind of game. They stuck with it, and they found a way to get better. That's a really good sign."

Nikolaj Ehlers stretched his goal scoring streak to three games with 13:57 on the clock in the third. The Danish forward flew up the ice to gain the zone, and left the puck behind the Hurricanes net for Wheeler. Ehlers kept his feet moving and Wheeler hit him with a return pass in the high slot. A high wrist shot flew off the stick of Ehlers, beating Darling high on the stick side to put the Jets up 2-1.

"We've been able to build some chemistry over the past two years, on and off, playing with each other," said Ehlers, who now has five tallies on the season. "The two guys I'm playing with, Scheif is doing such a big job for us, making great passes and opening up plays for me and Wheels. Wheels is so experienced, he sees things that aren't really there, but they are.

"Playing with those two guys is a pleasure, and I'm just trying to keep this going."

While Scheifele didn't show up on the score sheet for just the second time this season, Wheeler could only describe number 55's play in one word.

"Scheifele was a monster out there tonight. He was off the score sheet but he was a monster. He was all over the place," said Wheeler. "He was creating loose pucks for Nik and I, and it just took us a couple periods to keep up to him. Finally we were able to make a play.

"You have to give Scheif a lot of credit. His game is just taking off to new heights right now, and same with Nik."

Next up for the Jets is a tilt with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, the second game of a three-game home stand. But first, a day off for a team that needs it, says Maurice.

"When you look at our month, so we had two non-playoff teams that we were playing in Vancouver and these guys, who are a good hockey team," said Maurice, happy to have a three- game win streak five games into the season.

"This is a real challenging month for us. You want to get the belief that you can get on a roll."

ICE CHIPS It wasn't all good news on Saturday, as both Mathieu Perreault and Dmitry Kulikov left the game in the third period with lower-body injuries.

Maurice said a further update will be given on Monday.

Dustin Byfuglien played 24:14 in his return to action after missing the last two games, and added an assist on the eventual game-winner from Ehlers.

"I thought in the third period especially he changed the way that game felt with a few hits. They changed the way they attacked his side of the ice," said Maurice. "He got on the body and made plays. That's why we ran him as hard as we did in the third.

"He's a big strong man and his game was completely under control tonight."