In what was the reverse of a barn burner, an ice box matchup between Mackenzie Blackwood and Connor Hellebuyck held both ends of the ice in a 1-1 dual going to overtime. However, after all the misfires from both the New Jersey Devils forwards and defenders the barrage of shots on each team was something that became a nail biter. The defense for the Devils held up for a long time allowing Nico Hischier to knock in a backhanded goal past Hellebuyck to give them the lead.
It was only later on when Winnipeg tied it up on a deflection off Andrew Copp in what would have been a shutout win. The Jets won 39-20 in the face-off department, and they out hit the Devils 29-9.
The Devils outsmarted them in discipline for the most part. They only allowed one power play for the Jets. The Devils led the Jets 18-13 in the scoring chances. However, the game was a mix of a goalie clinic and defensive structured-type battle.
Overtime looked very promising with the possibility of Nico Hischier putting one past Hellebuyck in closing minutes. Hischier missed the chance to bank the puck off Hellebuyck’s pads and in. The Devils played superb on the closing power play, but with guys like Taylor Hall taking the final chances to end it in over time the puck luck saved Winnipeg.
With the recent players like Nikita Gusev and Jesper Boqvist getting into the flow of the game Coach Hynes decided to slot in Nikita Gusev the Russian sniper in first for the shootout. When Gusev was announced as the first shooter in the shootout boos didn’t seem to bother “the Goose” one bit. Nikita gracefully dangled his way in striding close and was able to sneak a snap shot five hole on Hellebuyck. With Jesper Boqvist making his NHL shootout debut, he seemed to be getting advice from Pavel Zacha when he was on TV before Gusev hit the ice. Jesper Boqvist had yet to score. Still, he came in with blazing speed, and went post down and in for the win.
This win in Winnipeg certainly is a big momentum shifter coming off the win in a “tough building” in Raleigh, North Carolina. The New Jersey Devils will now do a forward march and take on New Jersey native Johnny Gaudreau and the Calgary Flames on the next step of the western Canada swing.