In Winnipeg Friday night, the Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck made 42 saves to help Winnipeg to a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders.
Adam Lowry, Blake Wheeler, Kyle Connor, and Shawn Matthias had strikes for the Jets in the win as they turned a tight match into a bit looser affair with two goals in the third period.
“We did a good job,” Wheeler said. “Unfortunately [Mark Scheifele] is not coming back anytime soon, so we’ve got to rely on the guys in the room. Everyone takes responsibility in that, everyone has got to step their game up a little bit. Do a little bit more, do a little bit better. So far, so good.”
The Jets’ Scheifele will miss 6-8 weeks af action with an upper-body injury.
“I think a lot of guys stepped up and are going to need to [continue],” Connor said. “[Scheifele’s] obviously a huge part of what we do here, so I think all around the team we have to step up and elevate our game.”
Anders Lee scored both Isles goals in the loss as they dropped to 20-14-4.
“We’re going to try not to be too frustrated but obviously we would have loved to have capitalized on some of those opportunities in all three periods,” Islanders forward John Tavares said. “We generated most of them in the first two periods. Unfortunately, we didn’t put in as many as we’d like and didn’t have as strong a third.”
The Jets moved into fist place in the Central Division with 50 points, one ahead of the Nashville Predators who lost Friday to the Minnesota Wild, 4-2.
[WATCH: All Islanders vs. Jets highlights]
Jaroslav Halak made 33 saves in taking the loss.
“We peppered them. [Hellebuyck] was good tonight in net, I tell you. I think both goalies were good tonight,” Islanders head coach Doug Weight said after the loss. ” We had some point-blank chances where we got a lot of wood on the puck. He was incredible. … They’re a tough team to play here, obviously a good team, not just [the] goalie but tonight he was by far their best player. They capitalized on the chances when they had them.”
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