Scheifele, Vilardi each gets 2 points, Jets hold off Devils

NEWARK, N.J. -- Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi each had a goal and an assist, and the Winnipeg Jets held on for a 4-3 victory against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Tuesday.

Kyle Connor had two assists, and Cole Koepke and Nino Niederreiter each scored for the Jets (21-24-7), who are 2-2-2 in their past six games. Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves.

"We were playing quick," Connor said. "They’re obviously a very skilled team and take away your time with the puck. You got to be quick and I thought we made good adjustments just playing quick and making the first option.

"We capitalized on a couple of our chances and [Hellebuyck] made some big saves too. There was a great response and a good effort and a big two points that we needed."

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist, Jack Hughes had two assists, and Jake Allen made 22 saves for the Devils (27-24-2), who have lost two straight after winning three in a row.

"This game was going to require extreme focus, commitment, discipline, structure ... all those kinds of things coming off a [four-game] road trip," New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. "All the things that were setting the foundation for us to win on the road, they just weren't there today. It was evident from the first goal.

"You can't chase the game and can't outscore your problems."

During the game, the Devils acquired forward Maxim Tsyplakov in a trade with the New York Islanders in exchange for forward Ondrej Palat, a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a sixth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.

"Definitely not easy," New Jersey captain Nico Hischier said. "I think everybody in here knows what 'Pally' meant to this team, to this organization. He's a guy that taught us a lot."

Scheifele gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 1:33 of the first period when he took a pass from Connor and scored on a wrist shot from the edge of the right face-off circle.

Lenni Hameenaho tied the game 1-1 on a snap shot from the bottom of the left circle at 8:02. The 21-year-old rookie scored his second goal in his fifth NHL game and first at Prudential Center.

Vilardi made it 2-1 for the Jets at 3:23 of the second period on a snap shot from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Scheifele.

"His biggest thing is when he hounds pucks and when he gets into puck battles, he usually wins them," Koepke said of Vilardi. "You watch him on the power play; he's a dog on a bone. His puck possession, his playmaking, his getting pucks back. He carried that over to 5-on-5 and tonight he did that to a T. I thought he was one of our best forwards."

Koepke pushed the lead to 3-1 when he knocked in a rebound at the right post at 7:51.

Niederreiter extended it to 4-1, converting a 2-on-1 with Vladislav Namestnikov on a one-timer from the right circle at 16:42.

“I was just hoping [the puck] comes over," Niederreiter said. "I closed my eyes and shot the puck. I’m glad it went in.

"Obviously it was a big win for us. We came here to do that and we found a way to do that. It wasn’t pretty but we found a way and that’s the most important thing.”

Bratt pulled the Devils to within 4-2 with a power-play goal at 19:24 when he redirected a Hughes shot-pass at the top of the crease.

Hischier scored on a deflection from the slot with Allen pulled for an extra attacker at 18:14 of the third period for the 4-3 final.

"In the second period, we played a lot quicker and got out of our end, one or two passes, and were gone," Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. "Obviously we got some odd-man rushes off it and did a better job of forcing New Jersey back to their goal line to get pucks and the forecheck got working.

"In the third period, we knew the push was coming and, at the end of the day, that was a big two points for us."

NOTES: Niederreiter has 499 points (248 goals, 251 assists) in 1,020 NHL games ... New Jersey defenseman Dougie Hamilton had an assist to extend his point streak to eight games (one goal, nine assists). His eight-game assist streak is tied with Brian Rafalski (2006-07) and Barry Beck (1977-78) for the longest run by a defenseman in franchise history. ... Devils forward Cody Glass left in the second period after blocking a shot from Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey. He returned at the end of the period, but Keefe elected not to play him, and he did not return for the third. "He wanted to kind of give it a go there at the end of the second, so close to the intermission, but I didn't bother putting him out," Keefe said. "He did a test and it didn't get any better during the intermission, so he'll get further tests before we move on."