The New Jersey Devils‘ John MacLean Ring of Honor ceremony was overshadowed by the trade that sent Ondrej Palat to the New York Islanders. And after the trade and a ceremony, there was still a game to play against the Winnipeg Jets. At least, for the Jets, there was.
It didn’t take long for the Jets to put a damper on the vibes at the Prudential Center. Mark Scheifele scored first, 1:33 into the first period, giving Winnipeg a 1-0 lead after a poor line change by New Jersey.
However, the Devils’ third line stayed hot and tied the game near the halfway mark of the opening frame. Arseny Gritsyuk and Lenni Hämeenaho applied pressure on the forecheck in the neutral zone and forced a turnover. With a burst of speed, Hämeenaho picked up a loose puck and beat Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck to tie the game at one goal each.
After a strong finish in the first period, the Devils unraveled a bit in the second.
The rush was an issue for New Jersey, especially against Scheifele’s line. Kyle Connor led an odd-man rush to the Devils’ end of the ice, and in a tic-tac-toe play, Gabriel Vilardi finished to give the Jets a 2-1 lead.
Winnipeg padded their lead three and a half minutes later, when Alex Iafallo fed Cole Koepke on another odd-man rush, and he beat Allen to extend the Jets lead to 3-1.
Near the end of the second period, it was more of the same from the leaky defense. Nino Niederreiter—once again, on an odd-man rush—finished a pass by Vladislav Namestnikov to give Winnipeg a 4-1 lead.
Jesper Bratt redirected a Jack Hughes pass past Hellebuyck with 36 seconds remaining in the second period, cutting the Jets lead to 4-2.
After blocking a shot in the second period, Cody Glass did not return for the third period, and the Devils played shorthanded.
Nico Hischier scored with 1:46 remaining in the third period. However, New Jersey couldn’t mount the comeback in the third period despite a 15-shot period, quickly turning their small win streak into back-to-back losses.
Jake Allen surrendered four goals on 26 shots, suffering his 12th loss of the season.
