In Newark Thursday night, Connor Hellebuyck made 41 saves to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils.
It was the fourth straight win for the Jets and they are within four points of the division-leading Nashville Predators.
Patrik Laine, Joel Armia and Nikolaj Ehlers struck for the Jets.
Hellebuyck set a franchise record for wins in a season with 35.
“Connor went through some growing pains last year and they were necessary,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said. “He spent the summer driven by last season and it’s great that he gets the payoff for that work he did this summer because he’s been very good for our team.”
Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Devils who dropped to 34-26-8 who saw their cushion on the first wild card spot in the east shrink to one over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“[Hellebuyck’s] a big goalie and I think that helps when you have to fight to see pucks through traffic,” Palmieri said. “We threw a lot at him. We got in front of him. We got the second chances. Some nights it just doesn’t bounce your way.”
Taylor Hall‘s point streak ended at 26 games in the loss.
“It was going to end sometime,” Hall said. “You want it to be on a night when you had some chances and created some offense and I thought I did that pretty well. There were some nights on the streak where I didn’t play well at all and maybe found a way to get a couple of points; that’s the way it goes. When you’re on a streak like that you find some puck luck.”
[WATCH: All Jets vs. Devils highlights]
Cory Schneider made 21 saves in the loss.
“I have to dig deep and find a way to execute better and be better all-around. It’s not a fun feeling. It’s not something you can wallow in and feel bad for yourself. There’s no time or energy for that. It’s about me putting my head down and working hard and executing better,” Schneider said after the game.
You must be logged in to post a comment.