The old adage, never take the foot off the pedal, is always evidenced as true.
Friday night had the Winnipeg Jets in Newark, coming off a disappointing loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday.
That disappointment was evident as the Jets fell behind 4-0 to the New Jersey Devils through the early stages of the middle frame.
The Devils let off the gas and the Jets rallied with four unanswered goals to force extra time and the skills competition.
Dmitry Kulikov got the rally started when he scored in the waning seconds of the second period.
The third period was all Jets as they posted three goals from Jack Roslovic, Mathieu and Neal Pionk.
“We’re not looking for the perfect play; we knew that they were tired so we’re going to select our shots,” Pionk said. “I think it’s a fine line. You can’t just throw stuff at the net, but at the same time someone’s got to go to the net eventually. That was kind of my mindset. We were circling around for a while and I saw Scheifele go in front of the net and I just threw it on net.”
Blake Wheeler was credited with the deciding goal in the skills competition for the 5-4 win.
“A win like this helps you bond (as a team),” Pionk said. “You share that memory together. Just saying we came back from four goals down is something we’ll share throughout the rest of the year. So that gives us confidence as a group going forward.”
The Devils built their early lead off two goals from Blake Coleman and single markers from Sami Vatanen and Nikita Gusev.
“The best part about it is you don’t have a lot of time to think about it,” PK Subban said. “We go right back at it tomorrow (at the Buffalo Sabres). In this league, back to backs, we just saw a team on a back to back come back from 4-0, so there’s no excuses in this locker room. We’re a fast team, we’ve got a lot of energy, we’re in great shape after training camp, I can tell you that. We’ll be ready to go.”
[WATCH:Â All Jets vs. Devils highlights]
Cory Schneider got the start for the Devils and made 19 saves and yielded two goals. He left the game early in the period with an undisclosed injury.
Mackenzie Blackwood finished the game surrendered two goals on nine shots.
“It’s tough trying to find your game while you’re trying to hold the fort down,” Blackwood said. “It’s tough to go in there and try and find it while you’re in that situation, but you can only do so much. It could have been better for sure, but that’s what tomorrow is for.”
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