Canes start slow, fall to Jets 3-1

Adam Lowry’s first NHL goal helped the Winnipeg Jets snap a four-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

Former Hurricane Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien also scored for the Jets, who won their first game at home this season.

Jiri Tlusty scored on the power play for the Canes, who are still looking for their first win of the season and had been coming off back-to-back overtime losses. The Canes, 0-3-2, are the only winless team in the league.

Ondrej Pavelec made 20 saves in the win. The Canes’ Anton Khudobin faced 26 shots.

Ladd opened the scoring with his first goal of the season at 1:57, and Lowry netted his 40 seconds later on the Jets’ third shot on goal.

Byfuglien scored an unassisted goal on a breakaway late in the second period to make it 3-1.

Jeff Skinner, the Hurricanes’ top goal scorer last season, made his season debut after missing the first four games with a concussion. Defenseman Andrej Sekera was also on the ice after sitting out the last game with an upper-body injury. Skinner played 17 minutes, 26 seconds and took five shots.

Ladd’s goal was reviewed after a scramble in front the net led to the puck going onto Khudobin’s back and then down his pad and across the goal line.

Lowry redirected Grant Clitsome’s shot from the point at 2:37.

It was a reversal of fortune for the Jets, who had three goals scored on them in just under seven minutes last Sunday in a 4-1 loss to Calgary.

The two goals also equaled the number the Jets had scored during their four-game losing skid.

Ladd went to the penalty box for holding less than two minutes after Lowry’s goal. The Jets killed the penalty, but four seconds later, defenseman Mark Stuart made a costly trip to the box for tripping at 6:14.

Tlusty then scored his fourth goal of the season at 7:03 off a rebound, a play that was reviewed to ensure his stick touched the puck before it went past Pavelec.

Winnipeg outshot the Hurricanes 11-9 in the opening period.

The second period was scoreless until Byfuglien made it 3-1 at 16:26.

Carolina couldn’t hang on to the puck in Winnipeg’s end and Byfuglien picked it up, used his speed to stay ahead of defenseman Justin Faulk and then shot a backhand between Khudobin’s pads.

Both teams had difficulty getting shots in the second period, with Carolina having the 5-4 edge.

The Jets carried a power play into the third period on Skinner’s high-sticking penalty, and then had 11 seconds with a two-man advantage when Sekera was called for hooking. They put five shots on net.

Winnipeg was 0-for-5 on the power play. The Jets haven’t scored a power-play goal this season after 19 opportunities.

The Canes were 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

The Canes head off to Calgary for their second game of a four-game road trip through Western Canada on Thursday. They face Edmonton Friday and Vancouver on Tuesday.

Winnipeg’s four-game losing streak was the longest since Paul Maurice took over as head coach last Jan. 12. Under Maurice, the Jets’ longest stretch without a win lasted six games (0-3-3).

It was the first time Maurice faced his former team on home ice. He was the Canes’ coach for 775 games during two stretches in his career.

This story was originally published October 21, 2014 at 11:42 PM.