The Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C.–Two more goals for Patrik Laine. Two more points in the standings for the Winnipeg Jets.
Laine scored twice for the second-straight game, and extended his points streak to eight, in the Jets’ 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes last night.
Laine had his third multi-goal game in the last four and has seven multi-point nights during his streak.
He has 10 goals and six assists in the eight-game stretch, and 35 goals overall.
“I think I just tried to work hard every shift and I think when you work hard. you’re going to get rewarded,” Laine said.
“I’ve been working really hard and now I’m just getting rewarded,” he noted.
“Things are going great.”
Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist while Connor Hellebuyck stopped 33 shots for the Jets.
Winnipeg improved to 7-2 in its last nine games to close within six points of Nashville for the Central Division lead.
The Predators rallied to beat Colorado 4-3 in overtime earlier yesterday.
Teuvo Teravainen scored for the fourth-straight game for the Hurricanes.
Jordan Staal also scored while Cam Ward made 20 saves.
Carolina fell to 2-5-2 in its last nine as it tries to hold on to the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
“I’m not sure what happened tonight,” said Staal.
“We’ve got to put together a streak here, and it’s got to be now,” he stressed.
Laine opened the scoring 5:40 into the first when he ripped a wrist shot from the top of the right circle through Ward’s legs.
He nearly scored twice more in the first period, with a wrist shot that dinged the right post and a slapshot that rang off the crossbar.
“I was pretty mad to myself,” Laine admitted. “I should’ve scored from those chances.
“I thought, ‘They’re not going to pass to me any more if I can’t bury it from those passes.'”
The Hurricanes pulled even with 1:29 left in the opening period.
Right as a power play ended, Teravainen fired a pass toward the Winnipeg crease that was intended for Staal, but the puck instead bounced up off Jets’ defenceman Dmitry Kulikov’s chest and into the net.
But Laine struck again just 2:37 into the second period, and six seconds into a power play, with another wrist shot through Ward’s legs–this time from the left face-off circle.
“It comes off his stick different,” noted Hurricanes’ coach Bill Peters. “It comes jumping off his stick.
“He’s real dangerous right now.”
Stastny added insurance with an unusual goal midway through the third. Ben Chiarot’s wrist shot rang off the right post and redirected to the left side of the ice, where it hit referee Eric Furlatt in the side of the face.
With Furlatt recoiling in pain and players across the ice adjusting to the puck’s sudden change in position, Stastny picked up the loose puck and fired it into the net.
“I didn’t really see anything,” Stastny said. “I just heard it hit post or crossbar.
“Literally didn’t know where it went, then all the sudden I realized it was in front of me and then out of the corner of my eye saw the goalie out of position.”
The fluky goal would prove critical when Staal fired home a rebound with 4:12 to go.
“A few games ago, we had some odd bounce off the ref and they blew it down and they said they wouldn’t allow a goal like that,” Staal recalled.
“It was tough, obviously, to watch that go in,” he added. “That was tough.”
The Jets next visit the N.Y. Rangers tomorrow night.
Elsewhere in the NHL, Minnesota beat Detroit 4-1, Florida downed Philadelphia 4-1, Anaheim dumped Chicago 6-3, Vegas edged New Jersey 3-2, and Columbus doubled San Jose 4-2.
