WINNIPEG – Jets centre Mathieu Perreault was happy to see Winnipeg’s offence catch up to its defence.
Perreault had his first goal of the season as the Jets beat the New Jersey Devils 3-1 on Tuesday night.
“We’ve had chances those other games as well,” said Perreault. “We’re over 30 shots every game. It’s just a matter of putting them in.”
The Jets went into the game as the third lowest-scoring team in the league. Coach Paul Maurice juggled his lines and it seemed to generate a little more offence on Tuesday.
“I would say there’s very few nights you don’t go on the bench with plan B,” he said after the win. “You also don’t want to be changing your lines all the time. For me we’re not at that stage.”
Perreault and Mark Scheifele scored less than two minutes to start the second period. Michael Frolik scored in the third to seal the victory for the Jets (10-7-3).
Perreault backhanded one high past Cory Schneider at just 1:34 and Scheifele then flicked in linemate Adam Lowry’s rebound at 3:38. He beat Lowry to the puck to claim his third goal of the season.
New Jersey (8-9-2) narrowed Winnipeg’s lead to 2-1 to start the third. The Devils’ goal was first credited to Martin Havlat but was then changed to Patrik Elias, as a loose puck was poked under Jets netminder Michael Hutchinson on the power play.
Forward Mike Cammalleri said New Jersey just didn’t bring it to the Jets.
“We had like a couple of waves in the second and a couple in the third but over the course of the game I would think they felt pretty comfortable and not threatened and that’s not a good thing,” he said.
“I didn’t think we created enough clean plays maybe coming up the ice out of zone to get our legs going enough to push their wave of defence back. That made it hard for us to have puck time there.”
Scheifele said he played enough last season with right-winger Frolik to build chemistry. Rookie Lowry handled the right side.
“He’s a big body and he makes great plays. I know both those guys played amazing tonight and I’m happy to be with them.”
Scheifele surprised many by even dressing for Tuesday’s game, after exiting Sunday’s 4-3 overtime loss in Minnesota favouring his leg. He missed a good chunk of last season with a knee injury.
Perreault, meanwhile, was slotted between Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien. While Kane had four shots, he couldn’t find the net.
The Jets shot more than New Jersey in the first although neither team looked exactly sharp in the period. But it was the Jets, with just one night off in the last four, who found more energy in the second.
The Devils last played Saturday and were outshot 23-9 by Winnipeg by the end of the second period. Veteran Jaromir Jagr had what looked like the best chance of the period for New Jersey but hit a post.
At 42, Jagr is currently the oldest player in the NHL and he still leads the Devils in scoring with nine goals and 12 points.
The Jets continued to struggle on the power play, squandering five opportunities Tuesday night.
“Clearly the power play is a sore spot for us and it has to get better,” said Maurice, who said he saw the energy level drop when Winnipeg had a five-on-four and ruefully suggested they might be better to turn down the opportunity.
The Devils got more dangerous as the third period drew to a close, hitting the post again, but Hutchinson made some great saves and it was Frolik who scored off another Lowry shot at 16:07.
New Jersey was outshot 34-22 but had 13 shots in the third to just 11 for the Jets.
“It’s just one of those things where we’re lucky we got those bounces,” said Hutchinson, who had long stretches early in the game where he was just a spectator.
“It’s a little bit difficult when you don’t touch the puck as much.”
Notes: In their first meeting this season the Jets had to settle for a point when the Devils tied the game in the final minutes of the third and then won 2-1 in a shootout. New Jersey netminder Cory Schneider started his pro career in Winnipeg as a member of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.
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