It was another slow start for the Jets, but this time, they followed it up with a more than strong finish.
Propelled by five unanswered goals between the second half of the first period and the entire second period, the Jets won their second game in a row on home ice 5-3 over their divisional rivals the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday night.
The Jets and starter Ondrej Pavelec found themselves down 2-0 very quickly on a weak first goal by Jussi Jokinen and then another goal by Jeff Skinner prompting head coach Claude Noel to shake things up.
Chris Mason would relieve Pavelec not even seven minutes into the game, as Pavelec allowed two goals on the first five Carolina shots.
Alexander Burmistrov would get the Jets on the board with a highlight reel power play goal that found the roof of the net on Carolina starter Brian Boucher's glove side.
With time running out in the first period, Kyle Wellwood found the puck at the side of the net with under a second remaining to tie the game after one period 2-2.
In the second, the Jets would continue to pressure Carolina. After outshooting them 13-6 in the first period, the Jets would only get six shots at Boucher in the second but half of their shots made their way to the back of the Hurricanes net.
Jim Slater would net his third of the season from Tanner Glass, as Slater would wrist a shot past Boucher's shoulder for a 3-2 Jets lead.Nearly two minutes later, captain Andrew Ladd would score his second on a weird bounce off the board that he took a swipe at near the blueline. The puck fooled Boucher and found the back of the net to give the Jets a 4-2 lead.
Evander Kane would make it 5-2 at 7:30 of the third when he finally potted his first of the season from in tight, being the recipient of the great work by Nik Antropov behind the net.
The 'Canes would respond with a goal midway through the third period, but the damage was done as the Jets came away with a 5-3 victory giving them a 2-4-1 record, good enough for five points on the season.
Chris Mason stopped 18 of 19 shots after replacing Pavelec and was honoured with the first star selection.
Antropov, Zach Bogosian, and Wellwood would finish the night with two points apiece.
Antropov was seven of 13 in the faceoff circle, while Bryan Little was 12 of 18, Slater was three of six, and Maxwell was seven of eight.
Mark Scheifele played only nine shifts for 7:21 of ice time. It seems he may only be playing nine games this season for sure now.
Tobias Enstrom led the Jets in shots with five and ice time playing 27:12. Dustin Byfuglien played 23:39, Bogosian 20:56, Oduya 20:17, Little 20:05, and Ladd 20:03.
Despite being banged up from the Senators game Thursday, Ladd's goal would stand up as the winner. In addition to his goal and 20:03 of ice time, Ladd had three shots, three hits, and won all three faceoffs he took during his 23 shifts.
Jets now prepare for the New York Rangers Monday night.
Photo Courtesy Yahoo! Sports & Getty Images
