Hurricanes 5, Jets 1: Tough Goalie NHL Debut
Some games you feel your way into; others hit you square in the chest before you’ve even got your legs under you. For the Winnipeg Jets, this one in Raleigh belonged firmly in the second category. They started the night like a team still looking around for the puck, and by the time they found it, the Carolina Hurricanes already had their hands on the steering wheel.
Yet in the middle of all that, the story that will stick in Winnipeg for a while came wrapped in calm eyes and a young goalie mask. Thomas Milic, 22 years old and making his first NHL start, looked nothing like a kid tossed into the deep end. His teammates sagged early, lost battles, and drifted from their structure, but Milic was steady — almost stubbornly so. He stayed tall on cross-ice plays, tracked the puck cleanly, and made one stunning right-toe stop on Kyle Connor that should have given the Jets the jolt they needed.
They didn’t quite take the hint.
The Jets’ Small Moment of Success
The Jets tied the game the only way you often can in a building like this: by capitalizing on a mistake. Gabriel Vilardi picked off an errant pass, sent Mark Scheifele into daylight, and Scheifele snapped it home like he’d been waiting all night for the puck to behave. That small moment of poise made it 1–1, a reminder that Winnipeg didn’t need perfection — just a foothold.
But the Hurricanes don’t give you many footholds. They lean on you, push pace, and force you to defend longer than you’d ever prefer. Winnipeg spent far too much time reaching, reacting, and tiring themselves out. When Jordan Martinook scored to make it 2–1, it felt less like a dagger and more like inevitability. And once Seth Jarvis found room for his second and third goals, the night slid fully into Carolina’s hands.
For the Jets, the disappointment wasn’t just the score. It was the sense that they never really got to their game — that north-south, hard-on-pucks identity that keeps them in tough buildings. They let the Hurricanes dictate the action, and once you’re chasing them, you’re usually chasing down the wrong rabbit hole.
Still, somewhere in this loss, there’s the quiet beginning of something for Milic. He kept them upright longer than the score suggests. On a night when not much went right, that mattered.
Three Key Points for the Jets
Key Point One: Thomas Milic was the bright spot. He was calm and composed in a chaotic debut — he kept this from getting out of hand far earlier.
Key Point Two: The Jets’ early structure wasn’t there. Winnipeg lost too many first-period battles ever to feel settled.
Key Point Three: Winnipeg’s transition play hurt them. Carolina feasted when Winnipeg couldn’t get pucks deep or sustain offensive-zone time.
Final Thought from the Jets’ Perspective
A night like this isn’t fatal, but it’s a reminder: if you don’t show up on time in Carolina, they decide the whole evening for you.