WILD WEEKEND
Hot Devs top Pens on Saturday, KO Jets Sunday
DEVILS 4 JETS 2
Fabian Zetterlund and Miles Wood scored in a two-minute span of the third period and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 23 shots as the Devils rallied to beat the Jets, 4-2, on Sunday night in Newark.
The Jets led, 2-1, heading into the third period on the strength of first-period goals by Cole Perfetti and Neal Pionk. The Devils rallied with three goals in the third and extended their home winning streak to six games.
Zetterlund scored his sixth at 5:02 to tie the game, before Wood beat Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck for his ninth at 6:53 to give the Devils the lead. Michael McLeod and Jesper Boqvist assisted on Wood’s go-ahead goal.
Dawson Mercer scored twice for the Devils, including an empty-netter. Erik Haula added two assists for the Devils, who were coming off a 5-2 road victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Devils are 21-4-3 on the road and 16-10-2 at home.
Mark Scheifele assisted on two goals for the Jets, who had won six straight games at Prudential Center and hadn’t lost in regulation in Newark since 2012 — with an 8-0-2 record over that span entering Sunday’s game.
Perfetti opened the scoring at 14:57 of the first, picking up a rebound and scoring for his eighth goal. The 21-year-old forward has 30 points overall in his second NHL season.
The Devils answered quickly at 15:16 when Mercer scored off assists from Nico Hischier and Dougie Hamilton.
Pionk put Winnipeg ahead, 2-1, at 17:09, blasting the puck from the point past Blackwood for his eighth.
The Devils dominated the second and had their best chance to tie with just over five minutes left when Jesper Bratt broke in alone on Hellebuyck, but hit the post. The Devils had another chance in the waning seconds of the middle period, but Hellebuyck poked the puck off the stick of a charging Zetterlund.
Mercer added his 15th goal into a empty net at 19:04 of the third.
Hellebuyck fell to 6-2-1 in his career against the Devils.
The Jets, who were coming off 3-1 loss at Columbus on Thursday that ended a threegame winning streak, remained three points behind first-place Dallas in the Central Division.