After another one goal loss, a 4-3 defeat on Wednesday night against the Capitals, the Jets continued their five game road trip looking to end their three game losing streak. Lenovo Center was the host for tonight’s game, as the Jets looked to avenge a 4-3 loss against the Hurricanes last Friday in Winnipeg. The now 12-10-0 Jets took on the 14-7-2 Carolina Hurricanes, with these two teams separated by six points in the NHL league standings. The Hurricanes entered tonight’s game on a two game losing streak, looking to bounce back with a win.

There was no changes to the Jets lineup tonight, as they looked to build chemistry with the new line combinations they formed before last game. Tanner Pearson and Cole Perfetti were centered by Vladislav Namestnikov on line 2, Adam Lowry centered Nino Niederreiter and Alex Iafallo on line 3, and Toews stayed on the 4th line to centre Morgan Barron and Gustav Nyquist. Elias Salomonsson stayed on the 2nd pairing with Dylan Samberg, replacing the still injured Neal Pionk. Colin Miller remained on the 3rd pairing (over Luke Schenn) with Logan Stanley.

Eric Comrie was projected to get the start in goal, which would’ve been his 4th start in a row since the Jets announced that Hellebuyck will be out for 4-6 weeks. Instead, 40 minutes before the game started, Thomas Milic was announced as the starting goalie, making his NHL debut in Carolina. Milic entered tonight’s game with a 5-2-2 record (with the Manitoba Moose), a 2.14 GAA and an impressive .921 SV%. Tonight’s game started with the Hurricanes in front, but the Jets battled back to tie the game in the 2nd. In the end, it was the Hurricanes who were victorious on this Friday night.

Milic was fantastic in the opening 20 minutes of his NHL debut. The Jets took two penalties in the opening 10 minutes, Dylan DeMelo for tripping at the 4:36 mark, followed by a trip by Colin Miller less than 4 minutes later. The Jets penalty killers (and Milic) shut down the Hurricanes from getting the opening goal of the game on the powerplay.

With around 4 minutes left in the 1st, Sebastian Aho entered the Jets zone and made a drop pass to Shayne Gostisbehere. Seth Jarvis was in front, and he got the puck and snapped one quickly just past Milic to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead.

The Jets couldn’t generate much offence after this goal, and the 1st period ended with the home team leading 1-0. The shots on goal were changing (as the NHL audits what’s shown on TV), and the Hurricanes ended up outshooting the Jets 10-5. Most of the other game stats favoured the Jets slightly, but the Hurricanes overall looked like the better team in the opening 20 minutes.

The 2nd period opened with the Jets on the powerplay, after Andrei Svechnikov was called for interference on Gabriel Vilardi just 49 seconds into the 2nd. Just like last game, the Jets continued to struggle to get shots on goal, and the game stayed 1-0. At the halfway point of tonight’s game, the Jets only had 7 shots on goal, as they continued to not be able to generate offence outside of the 1st line.

Moments later, Gabriel Vilardi sent Mark Scheifele in on a breakaway after he intercepted a pass from Andrei Svechnikov. Scheifele waited and fired a wrister over Brandon Bussi’s glove, tying this game at 1 on the Jets 8th shot of the game.

Less than 3 minutes later, already with some momentum from the tying goal, the Jets went back on the powerplay. Jackson Blake was called for hooking on Colin Miller, but similar to the last powerplay, the Jets couldn’t get much going, and this game stayed tied. 40 seconds after the penalty expired, Thomas Milic was called for a delay of game – illegal play by goalie. Milic unintentionally covered the puck just outside the trapezoid behind the net, sending the Hurricanes on their 3rd powerplay of the night.

The Hurricanes were unsuccessful, and this game remained tied at 1 for the rest of the 2nd period. With just over a minute left, Gabriel Vilardi and Jordan Martinook got into a wrestling match near centre ice, and as a result both teams got 2 penalties. Shots on goal after 40 minutes were now 20-10 for the Hurricanes, and the 3rd period would start with the score still just 1-1.

Both teams traded scoring chances to open the final 20 minutes. Elias Salomonsson almost scored his 1st career goal, but his shot went square off the post. Dylan DeMelo was called for hooking with 15 minutes left, but the Jets shut down the Hurricanes on their powerlpay again. Kyle Connor had a shorthanded breakaway chance, but he couldn’t quite tuck the puck past Bussi.

The excitement in the crowd (and on the ice) was picking up, and you could feel that the next goal might just be the eventual game winner. With 8 minutes left, the Hurricanes took the lead. Shayne Gostisbehere made a pass to Mark Jankowski behind the net. Jordan Martinook was in front, and after he got the puck he snapped one past Milic to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead.

Less than a minute later, the Hurricanes lead doubled. Andrei Svechnikov and Keandre Miller set up Seth Jarvis in front in the slot, and he snapped another nice shot past Milic for his 14th of the season and 2nd of the night.

The Jets pulled the goalie with just over 2 1/2 minutes left. After almost getting set up, the puck was turned over and sent up the ice. Seth Jarvis raced up the ice and slid the puck into the empty net to complete his 2nd career hat trick. The Hurricanes added another goal with 23 seconds left from Alexander Nikishin, and held on and won this game 5-1, heavily outshooting the Jets 35-13. Aside from the 1st line, the Jets disappointed again, and now find themselves with a 4 game losing streak.

With the Jets five game road streak now two games done, the Jets regular season schedule continues with a game tomorrow afternoon against the Nashville Predators. Puck drop for this game will be just after 6:00 pm CT. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation for all of the latest Jets news, plus previews and recaps on each Jets game this season.