The New Jersey Devils picked up where they left off and are now on a three game losing skid. They took on the Winnipeg Jets Friday night, who flew past them 6-1. 

Game Recap

First Period

This was an evenly played period until the end. It took until the 18:17 mark of the period, but the Jets broke the tie. A shot fired by defenseman Colin Miller drew a rebound off Jacob Markstrom, where Alex Iafallo followed it up with a backhanded shot. The Jets carried a 1-0 lead into the second period. 

This was a tighter contested period. The Jets held a slight edge in shot attempts (17-15) and also outshot the Devils 11-7. As a team, the Jets caved the Devils in the high-danger areas, out attempting them 5-0, getting better quality looks. 

Second Period

The Jets picked up where they left off in period one. After the Devils took a penalty, the Jets’ top unit went to work. With pristine puck movement led by Kyle Connor, a shot fired by Nikolaj Ehlers drew another rebound and defenseman Josh Morrissey snapped a shot to make it 2-0. The Devils showed strong push back and got a power play late into the period and put pressure on the Jets defense. With 30 seconds left, Ehlers ripped a shot from the slot to make it 3-0 and took that lead into the third period. 

Third Period

It took 35 seconds, but the Devils got on the board. Dawson Mercer scored his 14th of the season, ripping a one timed blast from the face off circle to make it 3-1. Then the Jets turned on the jets and took over the game and the period. In a span of five minutes, the Jets scored three unanswered goals. 

The first was scored by the captain Andrew Lowry, who capitalized off a turnover by Simon Nemec. The fifth goal was scored by Connor, who took a pass from Mark Scheifele and went top shelf over Markstrom. The final nail in the coffin was scored by Cole Perfetti, who pounced on a loose puck after the intial shot hit the boards. The Jets maintained this 6-1 lead and took the two points. 

Game Notes 

• Despite the lack of finishing ability by the team as a whole, Timo Meier helped contribute to generating chances. With him on the ice during five-on-five play, Meier had the highest expected goals for with 0.98 and finished with an xGF% of 55.34. 

• Scoring is never easy against Connor Helleybuck. The Devils generated 2.62 expected goals and only scored one. The Devils didn’t test him with a lot of high-danger shots either. 

What’s Next 

The Devils hit the road for a tilt with the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon.