Winnipeg Jets' Cole Perfetti (91) celebrates his goal against the New Jersey Devils with Alex Iafallo (9), Mark Scheifele (55) and Kyle Connor (81) during the second period of NHL action in Winnipeg on Tuesday November 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade
WINNIPEG – Kyle Connor scored twice and added an assist to propel the Winnipeg Jets to a 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday and put himself in a tie atop the NHL’s goal-scoring leaderboard.
Connor’s goals gave him 13 on the season, tying him for most goals this season with Auston Matthews, whose Toronto Maple Leafs were idle Tuesday.
Nikolaj Ehlers had a pair of goals and Cole Perfetti scored once and added an assist. Morgan Barron also had a goal and Josh Morrissey contributed four assists, tying a franchise record for assists in a game.
Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for Winnipeg (8-5-2), which played the third of a five-game homestand in front of 11,717 fans at Canada Life Centre.
Timo Meier, John Marino and Dawson Mercer scored for the Devils (7-6-1), including a pair of goals on the power play for the league’s top-ranked team with the man advantage.
Akira Schmid stopped 25 of 30 shots for New Jersey, which has lost three straight and four of its past five games.
There was no scoring in the first period, but the teams combined for five goals in the second period and Winnipeg led 3-2 after the barrage.
Winnipeg forward Rasmus Kupari left the game favouring his right arm with eight minutes remaining in the first period after falling into the boards. The team announced he wouldn’t return because of an upper-body injury.
Shots on goal after the first favoured Winnipeg 9-7.
Connor got the Jets on the board 8:07 into the second period when he fired his own rebound past Schmid.
New Jersey didn’t get its first shot on goal in the middle frame until just before the nine-minute mark.
Perfetti scored 31 seconds into a man advantage at 13:54, extending his goal-scoring streak to four goals in four games.
The Devils tied it 2-2 with a pair of goals 72 seconds apart.
New Jersey got lucky on the power play when Meier scored at 14:54 after the puck went in off Jets defenceman Dylan Samberg.
Marino’s first goal of the season soon followed at 16:06.
Meier has a goal in three consecutive games, while Marino extended his point streak to five games with one goal and four assists.
Ehlers made it 3-2 after Perfetti looked like he was going to shoot, but he sent a pass to Ehlers beside the net and he put the puck in at 18:10.
The helper stretched Perfetti’s point streak to seven games, including four goals and five assists.
With New Jersey forward Curtis Lazar off for hooking, Connor scored his second of the game with a deep-bending shot at 9:54 to make it 4-2.
Connor’s two goals and one assist stretched his point streak to four games (seven goals, four assists).
Ehlers put the puck into an empty net with 1:30 left.
NOTES
The Devils were again without injured top centres Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. “¦ Ehlers played his 538th game with the Jets, passing Slava Kozlov for 10th in franchise games played. “¦ Winnipeg defenceman Neal Pionk marked his 400th NHL career game.
UP NEXT
Devils: Travel to play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
Jets: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2023.
