Patrik Laine scored in a shootout and the Winnipeg Jets rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Tuesday night in the makeup of a game that was postponed by a snowstorm earlier this month.
Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves and stopped all three Devils’ shootout attempts as the Jets rallied from a 3-1 deficit to sweep the season series.
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Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheelers, Joel Armia scored for Winnipeg.
Beau Bennett, Taylor Hall, Stefan Noesen tallied for New Jersey, which has lost four straight and won only twice (2-12-4) in 18 games. Cory Schneider made 33 saves, but he was beaten between the pads by Laine, who missed Winnipeg’s last game with an illness, on the Jets’ second shootout attempt.
John Quenneville, Hall and Pavel Zacha were stopped by Hellebuyck.
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Both goaltenders made good stops in the overtime with Schneider stopping Dustin Byfuglein in close and making a glove stop on Ehlers. Hellebuyck stopped John Moore in close and the Devils felt they should have had a penalty shot when Hall was tripped.
Trailing 3-1 with less than five minutes left in the second period, the Jets tied it on goals by Wheeler and Armia.
Wheeler cut the deficit to a goal by deflecting at shot by defenceman Julian Melchiori past Schneider at 16:36. Armia tied the game at 2:40 of the third period with a short-handed, unassisted goal on a play he sidestepped two Devils and ripped a shot to the top corner from the right circle.
The Devils were outshot 25-15 in the first two periods but they capitalized on every Winnipeg mistake to score three straight goals.
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Bennett tied the game at 8:10 of the first, diving into the crease to nudge a puck over the goal line.
Hall scored on a breakaway a little less than four minutes later, and Noesen extended the lead to two goals converting in close at 15:27 of the second period on a nice setup by Blake Pietila.
Ehlers gave the Jets the lead less than a minute after the opening faceoff. He worked a give-and-go with Wheeler and beat Schneider from in close with a shot to the top of the net for his 23rd goal.
NOTES: Jets D Jacob Trouba got his 100th NHL point with an assist on Ehlers’ goal. … Melchiori’s point was his first in 25 NHL games. … Pietila’s assist was his first point 10 games this season. … New Jersey signed University of Massachusetts-Lowell D Michael Kapla to a two-year, entry-level contract.
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