Nino Niederreiter Post-game No captain? No problem. The Winnipeg Jets improved to 38-14-3 and extended their winning streak to seven games with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes from Canada Life Centre on Tuesday. And they did so without the services of Adam Lowry (and Morgan Barron), who missed his seventh-straight game. Nino Niederreiter and Neal Pionk scored power play goals, as Eric Comrie picked up his fifth win of the season - and second straight victory after going eight games without a win since opening the season 3-0-0. Rasmus Kupari also scored for the Jets which remained two points ahead of Washington, which also found a win (6-2 over Florida) on Tuesday. The game was highlighted by three successful coach's challenges - a rarity. Carolina actually scored the game's first goal on a shot from Jackson Blake. But thanks to Comrie's animated plead and a quick look from video coach Matt Prefontaine, head coach Scott Arniel challenged for goaltender interference. It was determined that newly-acquired Mikko Rantanen impeded Comrie's ability to play the puck, taking the early goal off the board. With just 42 seconds remaining in the opening frame, Niederreiter found his 14th of the season, scoring just 23 seconds into a Hurricanes tripping minor. The second power play unit struck again in the middle stanza, as Pionk blasted his eighth of the year past a bewildered Pyotr Kochetkov, making it 2-0 one minute into a Taylor Hall hooking penalty and just 3:13 into the period. Then, with six minutes to play in the third, the Jets' second line got what looked like the finisher, as Vlad Namestnikov put the exclamation mark on a nifty play from Cole Perfetti and Nikolaj Ehlers. However, upon further review, it was determined Namestnikov kicked the puck into the net, negating the goal. Brent Burns was penalized on the play for slashing Ehlers prior to the illegal play, but this time, Winnipeg was unable to pad its stats on the man advantage. Just moments later, Winnipeg had another goal called back, as Rasmus Kupari had what finally looked like the 3-0 marker taken off the board at 3:41 for goaltender interference. Arniel and company opted to challenge the referee's decision with just minutes remaining. The critical decision paid off, as Kupari's disallowed goal was overturned, giving Winnipeg a stranglehold on the game, and avoiding a two-minute penalty with just minutes to play in a two-goal game. Comrie finished the night by stopping all 29 Hurricanes shots he faced for his third career shutout, while Kochetkov turned aside 27 of Winnipeg's 30 shots. The win marked the seventh-straight win for Winnipeg, which is the Jets' second seven-game stretch of the year. Next up for the Jets is the final test before the two-week, 4 Nations Cup schedule break. Winnipeg will host the New York Islanders from Canada Life Centre on Thursday. That game also features a 7:00 PM central start time and can be viewed live on TSN.
