Justin Williams produced two goals in just his second game since returning from an abbreviated retirement as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the visiting Winnipeg Jets 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Williams, a former team captain, had goals in the first and third periods. The right winger had provided the winning tally in a shootout in his first game back.
Martin Necas and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for the Hurricanes, who go into the All-Star break layoff after winning back-to-back games to lessen the impact of a recent three-game losing streak.
Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov had two assists apiece.
Patrik Laine scored in the first period for Winnipeg, cutting his team's deficit to 2-1.
Carolina goalie Petr Mrazek made 16 saves while Winnipeg netminder Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 shots.
Winnipeg has lost three games in a row by a combined score of 16-4. The Jets have two team points across their last six games (1-5-0).
It was a rough return to Raleigh, N.C., for Jets coach Paul Maurice, who had two stints as Carolina's coach.
The Hurricanes scored three goals on eight first-period shots. It gave them more than two goals in a game for the first time in six games.
Necas opened the scoring just 2:28 into the game, skating free with the puck all the way to the net.
Williams got on the board with a power-play goal after just 5:30 elapsed for his first official goal of the season. The 38-year-old converted the winning marker in the eighth round of Sunday's shootout against the New York Islanders.
Teravainen's 10th goal of the season came with 1:38 remaining in the first period. Sebastian Aho's pass from behind the net set up Teravainen.
Carolina held a 14-1 edge in third-period shots with less than seven minutes remaining in the game.
Carolina swept the two-game season series, winning 6-3 last month on the road.
The Hurricanes are off until Jan. 31 because of the All-Star break and their bye week.
--Field Level Media
Winnipeg | Carolina | |
Patrik Laine 1 | Points | Teuvo Teravainen 3 |
Patrik Laine 1 | Goals | Justin Williams 2 |
Kyle Connor 1 | Assists | Teuvo Teravainen 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Justin Williams 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Connor Hellebuyck .862 | Save Percentage | Petr Mrazek .941 |
Connor Hellebuyck 25 | Saves | Petr Mrazek 16 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Winnipeg | 17 | 1 | 0-4 | 4-5 | 21 | 23 |
Carolina | 29 | 4 | 1-5 | 4-4 | 17 | 28 |