Sean Walker flirted with a hat trick, Pyotr Kochetkov had yet another shut out, and the Carolina Hurricanes thoroughly dismantled the Winnipeg Jets, chasing Stuart Skinner early in the second on their way to a 7-0 win.
The First Period for Carolina was a preview of how the rest of the game was going to go. The Hurricanes dominated on the shots on goal 10-3, and when Winnipeg did get their chances the Canes’ defense was ready to step up. Carolina would get two power plays during the period, including
about thirty seconds of five-on-three, and while it was buzzing it was actually the other special teams unit that got the first score. During Winnipeg’s first power play, the Carolina Penalty Kill was so strong it led to a sustained offensive possession. After one missed shot, the rebound sailed over to Sean Walker’s stick, and he was able to bury the shot to give Carolina the 1-0 lead.
The period would end with the Canes on the penalty kill again, and that was the only good thing about the second period for Winnipeg as the dam burst open. The Canes easily killed off the rest of the penalty and then Carolina put the game away. First, the Canes won a faceoff in the offensive zone, and Juuso Vallimaki would take a pass from Shayne Gostisbehere, and shot from the blue line where he was wide open. It easily got but Stuart Skinner, and the Canes were up 2-0.
Sixteen seconds later, the Hurricanes would be on the power play and this time they cashed in, and cashed in quickly. Just eight seconds in Winnipeg just completely lost Sebastian Aho on one side of the net, and Andrei Svechnikov was able to slide a pass over to him. He easily tucked it into the net and in a blink it was 3-0 Carolina.
Carolina wasn’t even close to done though, as just five minutes later known scoring machine Sean Walker potted his second of the game off an amazing pass from Seth Jarvis. Jarvis had collected the rebound from a shot and went to the corner, drawing multiple Jets. He feathered just a perfect pass to the waiting stick of Walker who took no time to shoot it, making it 4-0 Canes.
Carolina still wasn’t done. The clock still hadn’t ticket under the halfway point of the game before Carolina had another rush at the net, and what had arguably been Carolina’s best line of the season produced their first goal, as Jackson Blake drove the net, drawing the defense around him and he feathered a pass over to Logan Stankoven, all alone and able to snap it by Skinner for the 5-0 lead.
That was it for Skinner, as he was lifted for the second straight game—but it was hardly his fault as Winnipeg was just out gunned from the start. Clay Stevenson came in to relieve Skinner, and it spurred the Jets to at least be a little more competative. At the moment it was 5-0, Carolina had as many goals as Winnipeg had shots, but they would finish the second with twelve as the Canes pulled back the throttle a little and tried to get Walker his hat trick.
The only drama in the third period was whether or not Walker would get that hat trick and Kochetkov would get the shutout, as sure enough anytime he was out on the ice the team was feeding it to him. During this process the Canes would pile on more goals thanks to another quick Power Play snipe. Right off the faceoff Logan Stankoven was able to corral the puck, get it over to an open Mark Jankowski, who blasted it in past Stevenson to make it 6-0.
The extra point would be scored by Jesperi Kotkaniemi who has stepped up beyond what was expected with the injuries to the forward group. Gostisbehere would send a pass up to Kotkaniemi, and he slid it over to Robinson. Robinson was able to draw all the Jets defenders over, and Robinson passed it back right in front of the goal to Kotkaniemi, and he didn’t miss.
The Jets would attempt to stir the pot at the end of the game, but ultimately their efforts were futile as Valimaki would just point to the scoreboard.
Stankoven would lead the Canes with three points on the night, while Aho, Jarvis, and Ehlers all had two.
The Canes head back out on the road for an Election Night tilt in Nashville against the Predators.
