Ehlers’ power-play goal lifts Hurricanes past Jets 3-2

WINNIPEG _ Nikolaj Ehlers scored on the power play at 6:43 of the third period Saturday, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 for their seventh straight win.

Ehlers, a former Jets winger, snapped a wrist shot past the glove of goalie Clay Stevenson for his first goal of the season. Mark Jankowski, with a power-play goal, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi also scored for Carolina, which improved to 7-1-1. Shayne Gostisbehere had two assists.

Mark Scheifele and Alex Iafallo scored for Winnipeg (4-2-2), which led 1-0 and 2-1 before the Hurricanes came back. The Jets have lost three of their last four and suffered their first home regulation loss of the season.

Pyotr Kochetkov made 21 saves for the win and is perfect in his five starts this season. With less than 40 seconds left and Winnipeg pressing with the extra attacker, he stopped Cole Perfetti with his pad and then Viggo Bjorck with his helmet to protect the lead.

Stevenson stopped 34 of 37 shots in defeat. The Hurricanes held a 37-23 edge in shots on goal, according to the NHL box score.

Carolina went 2 for 2 on the power play and killed off Winnipeg’s only man advantage. Jankowski’s goal in the second period stretched his NHL-leading active goal streak to seven games, according to The Associated Press. NHL.com credited him with six goals in nine games after scoring 11 in 68 last season.

Scheifele opened the scoring for Winnipeg and now has a five-game point streak, with two goals and six assists in that span after a slow start to the year. Iafallo put the Jets ahead 2-1 on a tap-in set up by Adam Lowry, who took the puck from Kochetkov while the goalie was out of his net. Kotkaniemi tied it by tipping a Gostisbehere point shot.

The Jets visit the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night. The Hurricanes play the Calgary Flames in Calgary on Sunday.

Winnipeg also dropped a game to Chicago earlier in the week. Levshunov’s overtime goal lifted the Blackhawks past the Jets 4-3 on Thursday.

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Via NHL.com and The Associated Press.