The Jets suffered their 2nd straight loss on Saturday night, losing 5-1 at home against the Detroit Red Wings. The Jets couldn’t solve John Gibson, and a four goal third period by the Red Wings led them to victory. Tonight, the Jets began a four game road trip, starting in New Jersey against the Devils. With just over a week before the Olympic break, every game counts now. The 20-24-7 Jets took on the 27-23-2 Devils, with both teams looking for two points as they attempt to climb into a playoff spot.

There were no changes to the Jets line combinations tonight, as they continued to roll with a similar lineup that they’ve used in past games. Cole Koepke was once again back on line 4 (instead of Gustav Nyquist) and Elias Salomonsson remained on the 2nd pairing with Dylan Samberg. The Jets 3rd pairing tonight was Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn, who continue to gain chemistry.

Connor Hellebuyck got the start in goal, as Hellebuyck continues to get his reps in before heading off to Italy for the Olympics. The Jets lineup is mostly injury free except for Haydn Fleury, Neal Pionk and Colin Miller. Hellebuyck entered tonight’s game with 12-14-6 record, a 2.69 GAA and an average .902 SV%. Tonight’s game started out pretty evenly, before the Jets jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the 2nd, before just holding on for a 4-3 win on this Tuesday night.

Tonight’s game starting wonderfully for the Jets, as they opened the scoring after just 93 seconds. Off the rush, Gabriel Vilardi started a tic-tac-toe play, as the puck went back to Kyle Connor before it was sent across to Mark Scheifele. A brilliant wrister resulted in Scheifele’s 26th goal of the season and the Jets had a quick 1-0 lead.

The Jets held onto this early lead for almost 7 minutes, before the Devils tied it up. Arseni Gritsyuk collected the puck after a Jets giveaway and sent Lenni Hameenaho in on a partial breakaway. Hameenaho was patient before wristing the puck five hole past Hellebuyck to tie this game at 1.

Five minutes later, the Devils took the only penalty in the 1st, after Simon Nemec was called for holding. The Jets top powerplay unit went to work early in this advantage, but the Jets were unable to re-gain the lead with this opportunity. Teams traded chances in the 1st, and the Devils outshot the Jets 9-8 after 20 minutes played.

The 2nd period was where the Jets took over, outshooting the Devils big time, 14 to 5. Just over 3 minutes into the 2nd, Gabriel Vilardi scored his 20th goal of the season. Kyle Connor made some moves to start a rush into the Devils zone. Connor found Scheifele, who fired a nice pass across to Vilardi before he wristed one past Jake Allen to make it 2-1 Jets.

The Jets kept things rolling after this goal, and less than 5 minutes later they would take a 3-1 lead. Morgan Barron sent a soft rolling pass into the Devils zone. Alex Iafallo zoomed into the zone and collected the puck, before firing a pass across to Cole Koepke, who tapped the puck into the back of the net for his 5th goal of the season.

The Devils took their 2nd (and final) penalty of the game a few minutes later, a holding call on Johnathan Kovacevic. It was another solid man advantage for the Jets, but Jake Allen stood tall in net to keep the Devils within reach. With less than 4 minutes left in the 2nd, the Jets took a 4-1 lead. This goal was another one off the rush, as Adam Lowry collected the puck and sent Vladislav Namestnikov down the ice for an eventual 2 on 1 with Nino Niederreiter. Another well timed (and positioned) pass went across to Nino Niederreiter who snapped the puck into the net for his 8th goal of the season.

The Jets were in full control now up 4-1, but Kyle Connor took a tripping penalty less than a minute later. With time running down in the powerplay, the Devils got set up. Jack Hughes found Dougie Hamilton at the point, who looked and found Jesper Bratt for a one-timed slap shot which found its way past Connor Hellebuyck to make this a 4-2 hockey game headed into the final 20 minutes.

The 3rd period was mostly all in favour of the Devils as this time they heavily outshot the Jets 15-4. Josh Morrissey took the only penalty in the 3rd with 6 minutes to go, a tripping call on Gritsyuk. Hellebuyck made some nice saves throughout this final frame, and the game remained 4-2.

The Devils pulled the goalie with a little over 2 minutes left, as they tried to get a goal closer. Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt set up Nico Hischier in front for a “re-direction” that found its way into the net. With 1:46 remaining, the Jets now led 4-3. The Jets re-grouped, and were able to shut down the Devils for the rest of the game, as the Jets held on for a 4-3 victory on this Tuesday night road game. The Jets top line of Scheifele, Connor and Vilardi combined for 6 points (2 points each), and Hellebuyck made 26 saves as the Devils slightly outshot the Jets 29-26.

The Jets will remain on the road for another week, with three more away games coming up. Their regular season schedule continues at Benchmark International Arena with a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. Puck drop for this game will be again just after 6:00 pm CT. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation for all of the latest Jets news, plus previews and recaps on each Jets game this season.