Ehlers' return couldn't spark a win as Hurricanes silence Winnipeg, despite Vilardi's two-goal effort and a late rally.
Friday night in Winnipeg was supposed to be the continuation of a short home winning streak, the welcoming back of longtime Jet Nikolaj Ehlers and the celebration of captain Adam Lowry's new five-year contract.
Unfortunately for the Jets, only one of those things happened, and it was the inevitable, Ehlers was welcomed back - much more cheerfully than jeerfully, one must add.
The Friday night sellout crowd of 15,225 needed to wait around a full 60 minutes to know its team's fate, as the Jets fell 4-3 to Carolina.
Ehlers collected an assist, Jordan Staal had two goals, while K'andre Miller picked up two helpers for Carolina as the Hurricanes took care of Eric Comrie and the Jets, despite a two-goal effort from Gabe Vilardi.
“I don’t know if it’s what they did, I think it’s more about what we didn’t do," Vilardi said post-game. "I think we know they play an aggressive style. We knew that coming in, obviously. I think we made a few too many mistakes at our blue line, at their blue line, just kind of feeding their transition.”
Carolina couldn't have started the game any better, as a goal from Captain Staal came on the Hurricanes' first shot, beating Comrie just 16 seconds into the opening frame.
But the Jets woke up after that.
First, it was another goal off the red hot stick of Josh Morrissey, who ripped home his eleventh point in the past seven games on a three-on-one rush up-ice on a feed from Mark Scheifele.
Then, with Logan Stankoven in the box for hooking, Gabe Vilardi buried his seventh goal of the season. A brutal turnover from Mike Reilly - which looked more like something you would at 11:30 PM on a Wednesday night at the Highlander - bounced off Vilardi's shin pads, landed on the stick of Cole Perfetti, who dished it back to Vilardi for the tap in.
The Jets aired a welcome back tribute message on the jumbotron for Nikolaj Ehlers midway through the period, as Jets fans gave their former star forward a rousing standing ovation in his first game back in Winnipeg since signing his big offseason deal with Carolina.
The Jets maintained a slight 2-1 lead despite trailing 12-11 on the shot chart through 20 minutes of play.
But the middle stanza was a story of its own.
"Yeah. They're quick to go in the opposite direction, whether you turn the puck over in the offensive zone or coming through the neutral zone," head coach Scott Arniel said of the Hurricane's play. "They counter quick and they go the other way. I don't think it all turned into offence. It just turned into a lot more zone time than pure offence."
Winnipeg had managed just two shots by the midway mark and put up just four in the full 20-minute segment.
Carolina had nine shots and two goals in the frame.
First, it was Staal again, this time tying the game on a nifty re-direction from the high slot. Comrie couldn't do much to prevent the deflected puck from finding the twine.
Them, with Eric Robinson in the box for hooking, the visitors got a shorthanded tally, courtesy of the hometown kid, Seth Jarvis.
The 'Canes appeared to put things away early in the third period on a power play marker from Andrei Svechnikov, but Winnipeg had other plans.
Just a few minutes after Ehlers' cross-ice assist to Svechnikov, the Jets got one back. And much like that of Staal's previous marker, this one was the second off the stick of Vilardi.
Again, scoring on a two-on-one up-ice, Vilardi, this time, banked the puck off the skate of Jalen Chatfield and past Brandon Bussi into the net, once again cutting Carolina's lead to just one goal.
Winnipeg elected to pull Comrie for the extra attacker and had a 51-second six-on-four man advantage, but its power play could not get the job done in the dying seconds, ultimately falling 4-3 to Ehlers' Hurricanes.
Comrie, who will seeing a lot of game action thanks to Connor Hellebuyck's knee surgery, made 24 saves on the 28 pucks sent his way, while Bussi turned aside 24 shots on the night.
“It doesn’t change," Vilardi said of the mindset of playing in front of Comrie over Hellebuyck. "Eric comes out with the same mindset every day, so we come out with the same mindset every day. He’s playing more now, obviously. But he’s up for that challenge. It doesn’t change much for us.”
Next up for Winnipeg is the final test of the three-game homestand on Sunday afternoon. The Jets' nearest geographical rival, the Minnesota Wild, make their way to Manitoba for a matinee affair. Puck drop is set for 3:00 PM central time.