By Canadian Press

Comrie thrilled with 3-0 shutout over ‘Canes as Jets win seventh straight game

Feb 4, 2025 | 11:33 PM

WINNIPEG — Eric Comrie finally got what he deserved on Tuesday — in a good way.

The Winnipeg Jets’ backup goalie made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes that extended the team’s win streak to seven games.

The performance moved Comrie’s record to 5-7-1 in a campaign in which his teammates have often blamed themselves for not helping him out enough.

“It’s always fun to get a shutout. I mean, I’m never going to complain about that,” Comrie said. “Once again the team was awesome in front of me. This is a fun group of guys to play with.”

It was the third shutout of Comrie’s career. His last one was March 25, 2023, when he played for the Buffalo Sabres in a victory over the New York Islanders.

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“We’re always worrying about the process to get the result,” Comrie said. “When you get the results you’ve got to make sure you celebrate results … make sure you understand you worked hard for that and can achieve that and did the best you can.”

Nino Niederreiter and Neal Pionk both scored with the man advantage, giving the Jets an NHL-best 51 power-play goals this season.

Rasmus Kupari also scored and Niederreiter added an assist for Winnipeg (38-14-3) in front of 13,802 fans at Canada Life Centre.

Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 27 shots for Carolina (32-18-4).

Carolina went into the match with the league’s best penalty kill, and were on a run of seven straight games without giving up a power-play goal.

The Hurricanes had the game’s first power play late in the opening period and Jackson Blake scored, but a successful Winnipeg coach’s challenge wiped it off the board for goaltender interference.

“It changes the outlook of the game,” Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said of the disallowed goal. “If it goes in, we’re up one, we’re feeling pretty good. But obviously we know how those go. Sometimes you win them, sometimes you don’t.”

Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov also had a goal disallowed for kicking the puck into the net with six minutes left.

Kupari’s goal was initially ruled no good because of goaltender interference, but a coach’s challenge overturned the decision to make it 3-0 at 16:17.

Comrie threw heavy praise at Winnipeg video and analytics coach Matt Prefontaine for his role in challenges.

“He’s the Connor McDavid of video coaches,” Comrie said.

Comrie also thanked Niederreiter for blocking a shot.

“He’s awesome. He does it every single night. I have a lot of respect for Nino,” he said.

Niederreiter helps him before practices so he can stay tuned up for the few games he plays when star netminder Connor Hellebuyck gets a rest.

“I’m so thankful that I have a guy like (Niederreiter) to come out on the ice and shoot on me before and get me ready for my games,” Comrie said. “Because with a guy like Connor I don’t play as much as some guys, so I have to stay ready in a different way.”

Niederreiter downplayed his assistance.

“It’s nice, but at the end of the day he’s the goalie and he made some terrific stops tonight,” Niederreiter said. “I’m very happy he had a chance to get another win and, obviously, a shutout is great. I’m happy for him.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2025.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press

<!– Photo: a06a0db5fe8f07db4f66b4dbad2a33b516985a92ea99f211e462acfbb162d3e9.jpg, Caption:

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Eric Comrie (1) makes a save on a Carolina Hurricanes shot as Nino Niederreiter (62) defends against Hurricanes’ Jordan Martinook (48) during the second period of their NHL hockey game in Winnipeg, Tuesday February 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade

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