Comrie records first shutout in almost two years as Winnipeg Jets blank Carolina 3-0

With a long break for the Four Nations Faceoff looming, the Winnipeg Jets continue to play some of their best hockey of the season.

The latest example was a 3-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night in which their second power play unit scored twice, and backup goalie Eric Comrie earned his first shutout since Mar. 25, 2023 to extend the Jets win streak to seven games.

The Jets became one of just five teams in the last 20 years to have at least three – seven-game win streaks in the same season.

Nino Niederreiter had a goal and an assist for Winnipeg, while their league’s top ranked power play scored multiple goals for the 13th time this season.

The Jets won a pair of coach’s challenges in the win. One to take a Hurricanes goal off the scoreboard in the first period for goalie interference and another one to put a Jets goal on the scoresheet in the final frame that was originally disallowed, also for interfering with the netminder.

“Anytime those challenges go your way, they boost you,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “If they get off and get a one-nothing lead, they’re on the road and they can shut down with the best of them.

“But I like the way we responded. Our second power play scoring both those power play goals. I thought they did a great job, like they’ve done most of the year. So, those were big moments and it led to that win.”

It’s the second time in as many games the Jets have beaten a top-five team in the overall standings after defeating the Washington Capitals in overtime on Saturday.

The Jets now have an NHL best 38 wins and a league-leading 79 points.

Comrie made 29 stops for just his third career shutout, and the seventh of the season for the Jets. He’s now won in back-to-back appearances after suffering losses in eight straight starts from November to mid-January.

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“It’s always fun to get a shutout,” said Comrie. “I’m never going to complain about that. Once again, the team is awesome, awesome in front of me. This is a fun group of guys to play with. I mean, this is unbelievable. Every single night they just battle as hard as they can, give it everything they got, and it’s just special for a team to be a part of.”

The Jets held their opponent to under 30 shots on goal for the 16th straight game to extend their franchise record. The Jets were credited with 22 blocked shots.

“It’s a tough league to win,” said Niederreiter. “It takes what it takes to get a win and obviously we knew how good Carolina is as a team. They are a high shot volume team, so we knew we have to get some blocks and glad we found a way to win.”

Carolina was given the game’s first power play when the Jets were called for having too many men on the ice and thought they opened the scoring at the 15:37 mark.

Jackson Blake’s shot beat Comrie through a crowd but Winnipeg challenged the play, believing there was goalie interference. Replays showed Mikko Rantanen entering the crease and making contact with Comrie’s stick, impeding his ability to make a save, so the goal was taken off the board. Winnipeg then killed the remainder of the penalty.

With 1:05 to go in the first, Dmitry Orlov was called for tripping, pitting Carolina’s league-best penalty kill against Winnipeg’s top-ranked power play, and it didn’t take long for the Jets to win that battle.

Alex Iafallo made a nice move along the wall to create some space for himself before sending a pass to Niederreiter for a one-timer that beat Pyotr Kochetkov with 42 seconds to go in the first.

Carolina nearly tied it with a late flurry but Comrie stood tall as Winnipeg carried a 1-0 lead and a 12-8 edge in shots on goal into the second.

The Hurricanes received their second penalty of the night 2:12 into the second when Taylor Hall was called for hooking, and once again Winnipeg’s second power play unit took care of business.

A shot by Cole Perfetti was blocked by Orlov but the puck bounced to Neal Pionk as Orlov slid out of the picture. With lots of time and space, he walked in and walloped a slapshot over the shoulder of Kochetkov to make it 2-0.

Just 27 seconds later, Carolina got a power play when Parker Ford was called for tripping for his first NHL penalty. Rantanen almost scored but his attempt hit the post and sat loose in the crease for a moment before the Jets cleared it to safety.

With 51 seconds remaining in Ford’s penalty, the Hurricanes had six players on the ice and were assessed a bench minor. Winnipeg’s top PP unit actually got to see the ice after the 4-on-4 expired but couldn’t get anything set up.

Carolina wound up outshooting the Jets 12-6 in the second, but Winnipeg carried their 2-0 lead into the third.

The game rolled along with not a whole lot happening but with six minutes left and a delayed penalty to Carolina pending, Vladislav Namestnikov scored to make it 3-0. However, upon review it was deemed that he kicked the puck in, so the goal was waved off. Winnipeg did not score on the ensuing power play.

Winnipeg had a second goal disallowed just over two minutes later. Rasmus Kupari got into the blue paint before jamming home a rebound past Kochetkov. It didn’t seem like Kupari impeded Kochetkov but the goal was immediately waved off for goalie interference. The Jets decided to challenge the play and upon review, the call was overturned, giving Kupari his fifth goal of the season.

The only thing left to determine at that point was whether Comrie could get to the finish line with the clean sheet, and he did for his third career shutout.

Winnipeg will play their final game before the Four Nations Faceoff on Friday against the Islanders.

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