Devils at Jets
There is not another line in the NHL more anxious to get back on the ice than the New Jersey Devils’ trio of Travis Zajac, Joseph Blandisi and Kyle Palmieri, who combined for four goals and 10 points in the first period Thursday. Their efforts sparked the Devils to their third consecutive victory and gave them plenty of momentum heading into Saturday’s road game against the struggling Winnipeg Jets.
“Coming out of the last road trip, where we gutted out two wins, I think that helped us coming into this week,” Zajac told reporters after New Jersey moved into the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot by hammering Ottawa 6-3, scoring five goals in the first period. Winnipeg fell six points out of the final Western Conference postseason spot entering Friday after Thursday’s 4-1 defeat to Nashville, the Jets’ fifth loss in their past seven contests. “Clearly we’re in a tough spot here now with the losses that are mounting at home,” Jets coach Paul Maurice told reporters. Maurice has been forced to juggle his lines with four forwards missing Thursday’s game due to injuries.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG Plus 2 (New Jersey), Sportsnet (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (24-19-5): Palmieri recorded an assist and scored twice against the Senators and leads New Jersey with 20 goals on the season, while Zajac finished with a goal and three assists and Blandisi scored his first NHL goal while recording two helpers. Goaltender Cory Schneider won for the fourth time in his past five starts Thursday, making a handful of key saves in the final two periods en route to stopping 29 shots. The Devils are making the most of their offensive chances, considering they rank last in the league in shots per game (24.3).
ABOUT THE JETS (21-23-3): Winnipeg played without Drew Stafford, Mark Scheifele, Adam Lowry and Alexander Burmistrov on Thursday -- that quartet combining for 33 goals and 34 assists this season. But the Jets have been awful on special teams, ranking next-to-last entering Friday on the power play (15.1 percent) and fourth from the bottom on the penalty kill (76.9 percent). Rookie goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is among the league leaders in save percentage (.930) and goals against average (2.05), but Winnipeg has allowed 2.83 goals per game (25th in the league).
OVERTIME
1. Winnipeg has lost four of its past five at home after winning 11 of its first 17.
2. New Jersey F Bobby Farnham is eligible to play Saturday after completing his four-game suspension for a late hit on St. Louis F Dmitrij Jaskin.
3. The Jets posted a 3-1 victory at New Jersey on Oct. 9, getting a goal and an assist each from captain LW Andrew Ladd and RW Blake Wheeler.