Devils Grounded in Winnipeg | GAME STORY

WINNIPEG, MB - It was a back-and-forth affair between the New Jersey Devils and Winnipeg Jets on Sunday afternoon, with the teams trading goals throughout. In the end, the Jets bookended the scoring, striking first and last, to edge the Devils 4-3.

The game was tied at 3-3 heading into the third period before Tanner Pearson broke the tie at 6:17, giving Winnipeg a lead it wouldn’t give back. The loss extends New Jersey’s skid to four games after twice conceding the lead against the Jets. New Jersey once led 2-1 and 3-2 during the game.

“Too many (defensive lapses),” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Whether it’s soft around our net or losing structure at key times, just not good enough. We did enough good things to put ourselves in a position to win but too many mistakes that hurt you defensively, it’s hard to win like that.”

“In the third, it was just too long for us to get back to the structure that we played with in the first and second,” Jesper Bratt said. “And how we just played behind them, made them stop, we won pucks back and we spent more time in the Ozone and I think it took too long for us in the third period to get to that point.”

Cody Glass led the Devils with a two-goal performance, Luke Hughes picked up two assists, and Nico Hischier scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season in the loss.

"We did it to ourselves," Glass said of seeing the Jets take over in the third period. “I think in the first two periods we did a good job of getting over their skilled guys, not giving them any plays, obviously, stuff happens during the game, there’s going to be an odd-man rush, but we bounce back from that. But in the third we just weren’t making the right plays, not the right reads, we weren’t connected. The first and second period we did that. And that’s why it’s frustrating that it went away in the third.”

Alex Iafallo, Jonathan Toews and Gabriel Vilardi also scored for Winnipeg.

Here are some observations from the game:

• Both Johnathan Kovacevic and Evgenii Dadonov returned to the lineup. For Kovacevic, it marked his season debut after off-season surgery on his knee.

Kovacevic played 18:14 and had an assist while Dadonov played 10:00.

“It’s obviously so great,” Kovacevic said of being able to return. “To finish the game, be healthy and be in one piece. Just on a personal note, that was amazing to feel that feeling of playing again.”

• The Jets opened the scoring off a fortunate bounce late in their power play. But just 37 seconds later, the Devils delivered the ideal response, answering right back to ensure the game headed into the second period tied.

Jesper Bratt, positioned near the blue line, slid a short pass to Luke Hughes along the wall. Hughes carried the puck down the side before firing a sharp-angle shot from near the bottom of the circle. The puck hit Connor Hellebuyck out front, and amid a crowded crease, Nico Hischier pounced on the rebound in the blue paint, left untouched by Jets forward Mark Scheifele.

• Cody Glass ended a six-game scoreless streak with a two-goal performance against his hometown team.

• Luke Hughes had a two-assist outing, both primary assists, in his 200th NHL game.

• The Devils had a new look to their power play, with the return of Evgenii Dadonov to the lineup. Dadonov played on the second unit, where Luke Hughes, Jack Hughes, Cody Glass, and Arseny Gritsyuk made up the group, while Simon Nemec quarterbacked the first unit with Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt, and Dawson Mercer.

• Jonas Siegenthaler had a goal come off the board when what would have been the 3-2 go-ahead goal was called back for goaltender interference.

There was a collision between Paul Cotter and Dylan Samberg to Hellebuyk’s glove side, and Cotter was tied up with Hellebuyk as the puck popped out to Siegenthaler at the top of the right circle.

“I didn’t get an exact explanation," Keefe said. "But what I believe they’re looking at there is Cotter’s foot kind of getting in the way of their goalie’s ability to come back across the crease, so, those are tough ones. But those are kind of the margins.”

Siegenthaler had an open net to shoot at, but once the Jets called for a review, the refs came back with a goaltender interference call, and the goal was taken off the board.

• In attendance for the game were Patrick Fischer and Lars Weibel of the Swiss Olympic national team. It was an opportunity for the two to get an in-person view of four members of the upcoming Swiss national team. The Devils have three of those Olympians, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, and Jonas Siegenthaler, while the Jets' Nino Niederreiter will also represent Switzerland at the Milan Cortina Games.