WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) - A little chat for Winnipeg’s fourth line paid off in a big way.
Matt Hendricks and Mathieu Perreault scored and Joel Armia finished with two assists, helping the Jets beat the New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory.
The line has only been together for two games. Perreault was sidelined for 12 games by an injury before he scored in Thursday’s 3-2 shootout win over Philadelphia.
“We had a good talk (Friday) as a line after practice,” Hendricks said. “We were feeling good coming into (the game) and we wanted to start contributing a little bit more.”
Patrik Laine, Jacob Trouba and Kyle Connor also scored during Winnipeg’s five-goal second period, and Connor Hellebuyck made 34 saves. Mark Scheifele also had two assists, helping the Jets (12-4-3) improve to 7-2-1 at home this season.
“My goal as a goaltender, I grew up thinking that if you keep (the opposition) to two or under, you expect to win,” Hellebuyck said. “Because the guys in here are very talented.”
Devils goalie Cory Schneider played two periods and stopped 17 shots. Keith Kinkaid had 12 saves in the third.
“Tonight, I just wasn’t able to stop the bleeding,” Schneider said.
Brian Gibbons and Will Butcher scored for New Jersey (11-5-3), which dropped to 6-2-2 on the road. Butcher also had an assist.
A scoreless first period was followed by five goals in the first half of the second.
Connor rushed the net and sent a Blake Wheeler rebound past Schneider at 5:51, but Gibbons tied it with his ninth goal of the season.
The Jets then put away with the Devils with three goals in 95 seconds.
Laine tipped in Nikolaj Ehlers’ shot at 8:06, extending his point streak to eight games with his 10th of the season. He has six goals and three assists during the streak, which equals his longest from this rookie year last season.
Trouba got his first goal of the season at 8:41 with a shot over Schneider’s glove, and Hendricks used a feed from Perreault behind the net to make it 4-1 at 9:41.
Hendricks returned the favor later in the period, setting up Perreault in front of the net for his third goal at 18:18.
“Our start was great,” Devils forward Taylor Hall said. “It was just a few minutes there where we had some major breakdowns, where we gave up some grade-A chances where they buried. That’s the way it goes sometimes. You have to learn from that stuff and get better from it.”
Jets coach Paul Maurice likes what he has seen so far by putting Perreault with Hendricks and Armia.
“It makes that line dangerous, where you stop calling them (line) four,” Maurice said. “Each line has a little bit of an identity now, they do something a little bit different.”
Butcher got his first career NHL goal at 7:14 of the third. The defenseman also has 14 assists.
NOTES: Jets D Tobias Enstrom departed with a lower-body injury. … The Jets closed out a three-game homestand.
UP NEXT
Devils: Finish a four-game road trip Monday against Minnesota.
Jets: Begin a four-game road trip Monday against Nashville.
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