Heading out on their final road trip before the Olympic break, the Winnipeg Jets have no room for error.
Step one was beating the New Jersey Devils, and they did, scoring three times in the second period of an eventual 4-3 win Tuesday night.
Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi each had a goal and an assist as the Jets built up a three-goal lead, and they just held off the Devils for the one-goal win to start the four-game trip.
The Jets really struggled with their puck management in the early going and ended up committing 20 giveaways.
“Thought in the first period we were kinda turning pucks over,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “Not playing very fast, weren’t getting through the neutral zone, and Jersey was hard on us. But thought our second period was the exact opposite. We played a lot quicker. We got out of our own end; one-two passes we were gone and obviously got some odd mans off it.
“Did a better job of forcing Jersey to go back to their goal line to get pucks and our forecheck got working. We got out in front of them. Certainly, the third period we knew the push was coming. At the end of the day, that’s a big two points for us.”
The Jets had lost 10 of their previous 11 road games.
The win gives Winnipeg the sweep of the two-game season series. The Jets haven’t lost to the Devils since the 2023-2024 season.
Arniel moved Vilardi back to the top line at the start of the second period and his hunch paid off immediately when Vilardi scored his 20th goal of the season just three minutes into the frame.
“I wasn’t real big on our first period by sorta everybody,” Arniel said. “I know that line. I know when they’re together there’s some chemistry. You saw it on the first goal, and I really liked Gabe’s game tonight. I thought that he kinda gave us a spark with his work ethic, puck possession and just sorta tinkered things around to give a little bit of a mix and then it worked itself out.”
The Jets outshot the Devils 14-5 in a lopsided second period.
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“We played with a lot of jump it seemed like,” said Jets forward Kyle Connor. “And we were able to roll shifts over and hem them in their own zone and capitalize on the chances that we did.”
It didn’t take long for Winnipeg to break the ice, getting on the board just 93 seconds into the contest.
Dylan Samberg sent a stretch pass to Vilardi in the neutral zone before Vilardi walked into the Devils end while a New Jersey blueliner inexplicably changed right in front of him.
This created a 3-on-2 with Vilardi sending a cross-ice pass to Connor before Connor dropped it to Scheifele, who ripped a shot high over the shoulder of Jake Allen for his 26th of the season.
New Jersey responded just over eight minutes into the period thanks to some sloppy puck-handling by the Jets.
Alex Iafallo flubbed a pass from his own blueline that drifted aimlessly into the neutral zone. Scheifele and Connor tried to get to it, but Arseni Gritsyuk beat them to it, steering it to Lenni Hameenaho for a breakaway. He walked in and beat Connor Hellebuyck five-hole to level the score.
Both teams had multiple chances to add to their goal totals but couldn’t convert.
For Winnipeg, their best chances came off the stick of the snake-bitten Vladislav Namestnikov. His first look came off a funky bounce that resulted in the puck landing in front of a gaping net, but right as Namestnikov tried to get a stick on it, Jack Hughes got to it and helped deflect it to safety.
Later, on a delayed penalty call, Namestnikov had a one-timer that was denied by a sprawling Allen.
For the Devils, Hughes had two great looks right at the end of the period. After Logan Stanley turned the puck over, Hughes took a shot that went off Hellebuyck before grazing off the post. Seconds later, Hughes pickpocketed Stanley in the slot and had a tiny bit of daylight to put a deke on Hellebuyck but he lost the handle in close before he could get a shot away.
Both teams managed to get nine shots on goal in the first though the Devils appeared to be the better team.
That changed in the second as Winnipeg dominated most of the period, building a three-goal lead at one point.
Much like the first goal, the top line combined on Winnipeg’s second tally of the night. With Cody Glass hobbling to the bench well after blocking a shot in his own end, Connor rushed the puck up the ice to create a 3-on-2. He slid it to Scheifele who then sent a cross-ice pass that Vilardi collected before ripping a shot top-shelf on Allen at the 3:23 mark.
Just over four minutes later, the fourth line added to the lead. Morgan Barron slid the puck up the boards and out of his own end, creating an odd-man rush as again the Devils made a questionable line change.
Iafallo caught up to the puck in the New Jersey end and tried to pass it to Cole Koepke in front of the net. A backchecking Hughes broke up the pass, steering it into Allen’s pads but Koepke showed quick reflexes as he banged the rebound home for his second goal in as many games.
It became 4-1 Winnipeg with just over three minutes left in the period. A pair of Devils collided on the boards in the Jets’ end before Adam Lowry kicked the puck out of the zone, springing another odd-man rush. Namestnikov carried it deep into Devils’ territory before sending a pass to Nino Niederreiter that was one-timed through Allen’s five-hole for just his second goal since late November.
It also led to a helping of boos from the New Jersey fans.
But the boos turned to cheers when the Devils cut into the lead on the power play in the final minute. Jesper Bratt, parked in front of Hellebuyck, steered a slap-pass from Hughes into the net with 36 seconds to go to make it 4-2 Winnipeg after two.
The Devils controlled play for much of the third as they pushed to get back into the game, but Winnipeg stood their ground defensively.
New Jersey came close on a power play with six minutes left, getting four shots on net but could not beat Hellebuyck.
They finally did with 1:46 left on the clock when Nico Hischier tapped one home from in close with the goalie pulled. The Devils got two more shots on goal before the final horn sounded but neither beat Hellebuyck as the Jets held on for the win.
Winnipeg’s netminder turned aside 26 shots in the win, including 14 in the third period as New Jersey outshot the Jets 15-4 in the final stanza.
The Jets will continue this four-game road trip Thursday in Tampa Bay. Pregame coverage on 680 CJOB begins at 4 p.m. with the puck dropping just after 6.
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