Nikolaj Ehlers netted two goals, and Morgan Barron scored on a penalty shot to lead the Winnipeg Jets to a commanding 6-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.
Pierre-Luc Dubois added a goal and an assist, while Kyle Connor and Nino Niederreiter also scored for the Jets. Blake Wheeler contributed two assists, and Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves in his 60th season start.
“We’re sticking to our game and building it,” said Hellebuyck, who notched his 34th win. “This is when you want to peak, and I think that’s what we’re doing.”
The win brought Winnipeg within one point of Seattle for the first Western Conference wild card, although the Kraken have two games in hand.
Nico Hischier ended Hellebuyck’s shutout bid with a power-play goal with 13.9 seconds left. Vitek Vanacek stopped 17 shots for New Jersey before being replaced by Mackenzie Blackwood at the start of the third period. Blackwood made four saves in relief.
“They wanted it more,” Hischier said of the Jets. “They out-battled us. The score was a bit high; we had chances, but conceding six goals won’t win you a game. We need to clean that up.”
Coming off a win in Chicago on Saturday night, the Devils fell to 9-3-0 in the second half of back-to-backs.
“I take nothing from the game except disappointment,” said New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff. “In back-to-back games, you must be smarter and care for the puck. We gave up a couple of breakaways.”
Winnipeg led 2-0 after the first period and 4-0 following the second.
Ehlers opened the scoring 4:59 into the first period after Wheeler won a puck battle behind the net and passed to Ehlers in the slot. Niederreiter scored his 24th goal of the season off a rebound with 3:45 left in the first, ten seconds after a Winnipeg power play expired.
“Even though they played last night, you saw their speed and skill,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said of the Devils. “It was important to come out hard and get the lead, which we did. A lot of good things tonight.”
Barron extended the lead to 3-0 at 2:42 of the second period on a penalty shot after Devils defenseman Damon Severson held him on a breakaway. Barron scored low inside the post.
Connor made it 4-0 with his 30th goal of the season at 10:34, finishing off a pass from Dubois in front of the net.
“We’ve had some teams come here on back-to-backs, and we’ve been able to rest a bit,” Wheeler said. “Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going forward.”
The Devils outshot Winnipeg 14-8 in the second period, but Hellebuyck made key saves, and the Jets blocked 16 shots compared to New Jersey’s six.
Ehlers scored his 12th season goal with 5:50 remaining, beating Blackwood stick side. Hischier scored his 31st goal in the final minute to get the Devils on the board.
NOTES
- Barron became the fourth Jets player to score on a penalty shot since the team relocated to Winnipeg from Atlanta in 2011, joining Bryan Little, Ehlers, and Dubois.
- Wheeler’s two assists gave him his 200th multi-point game and 108th multi-assist game, both franchise records.
- This was Winnipeg’s final regular-season game against an Eastern Conference team, finishing 15-17-0 against them.
UP NEXT
- Devils: Host Pittsburgh on Tuesday night to start a two-game homestand.
- Jets: Host Calgary on Wednesday night in the third of a five-game homestand.
