Connor, Comrie help Jets down Devils 2-1

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This article was published 10/03/2022 (1275 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEWARK — We know Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor is a magician with the puck, blessed with a set of silky-smooth hands that often make opposing goaltending look foolish. Not to mention completely helpless. But his latest trick on Thursday night here in Newark was truly a sight to behold — a game-winning goal that seemingly disappeared before our very eyes.

Connor’s breakaway dash late in the second period ended with a vanishing piece of vulcanized rubber. After much confusion — including the referee waving it off, the ice-cleaning crew coming on for what they thought was a television timeout shovelling and the home broadcaster actually going to commercial — officials found the smoking gun embedded in the New Jersey net.

Not surprisingly, the guy who pulled the trigger had no doubt, even if pretty much everyone else around him did.

“I knew it went in. I was right there,” Connor said with a sly smirk of his team-leading 35th of the year, which proved to be the difference in a much-needed 2-1 victory by the Jets over the Devils.

It’s not quite a rabbit out of a hat. But pretty darn close.

“I had no clue because he usually celebrates a little bit, and he really didn’t do anything so I didn’t know what happened there,” said goaltender Eric Comrie, who was the other big story of this game in making 33 saves. “I’m just glad it went in.”

Winnipeg improves to 26-22-10 and pull to within five points of Dallas for the final Western Conference playoff spot. They have won two in a row and are now 4-1-1 in the last six as they try to mount a late-season push.

Comrie was given the starting assignment in a bit of a surprise move. Although this was the start of a back-to-back, with the Jets playing the New York Islanders on Friday night, the first game typically goes to your No. 1. But Connor Hellebuyck hasn’t looked himself lately, giving up 18 goals over his past four starts. Interim head coach Dave Lowry opted to give him an extra day of rest, and it certainly paid off.

“I really felt Coms kept the game calm. He slowed it down a bit for us,” Lowry said.

Comrie has now won his last four starts since early January, with the last two coming against teams he previously spent time with — Arizona and New Jersey — after waiver-wire pickups last season. Comrie said his Winnipeg teammates were joking with him prior to puck drop about how long the tribute video at Prudential Center might be, knowing no such event was coming. Comrie made just one appearance in a Devils sweater, a victory over Buffalo.

“Don’t get me wrong, I loved every single second I was in New Jersey, an unbelievable goalie coach here that helped my game out a lot,” said Comrie. “He progressed me a lot into the NHL level and I give him a lot of credit for what he did with me here, and obviously, Flats (Wade Flaherty) here.”

Winnipeg got this all-important three-game road trip off to a solid start when Brenden Dillon opened the scoring just 3:22 into the game. Captain Blake Wheeler showed great patience in his own end to thread a perfect pass to Mark Scheifele, setting up a two-on-one which ended with the defenceman’s second goal of the season.

New Jersey tied it late in the period, as 2019 first-overall draft pick Jack Hughes one-timed a rocket that just eluded Comrie with his club on the power-play.

The home team carried momentum over to the middle frame, hemming the Jets in for long stretches of play and coming close to grabbing the lead on several occasions. But Comrie stood tall and bailed his teammates out.

“He allowed us to get through the second,” said Lowry.

The turning point came in the final minute, with Winnipeg once again caught on the ice for an extended shift in their own zone. Pierre-Luc Dubois made a great play at his own blue-line to pressure a Devils’ defender and force a turnover, which Connor pounced on. He went the distance, deking out New Jersey goalie Nico Daws for the goal that almost nobody saw.

Fun fact: Comrie led Canada to a gold medal at the 2015 World Juniors, while Daws did the same for this country in 2020.

“I think we were in our own zone a little bit too much today. We’ve got to recognize certain situations where we can pressure the puck and get a couple more turnovers and get that puck stopped on the wall. I think we were just kind of sitting back on our heels way too much,” Connor said.

“To that play, Dubie had a great stick and it’s kind of man-on-man once they keep rolling up top there. He made a good play. I was just reading it, I knew what my d-man was kind of corner of my eye there but also reading the play, knowing if we got a turnover, we’d get a chance the other way.”

Connor now leads the Jets with seven game-winning goals this year.

“I always want the puck, whether it’s the game on the line or first shift. It’s no different. But when the game ramps up a little bit there, you kind of get more into the game, for sure,” Connor said of his penchant for coming up big.

The Jets locked it down in the third, taking the play to the Devils at times rather than sit back trying to nurse the one-goal lead.

“I would just say leadership. The guys talked about it in between periods,” Lowry said of saving the best for last. “We got away from it, we spent too much time defending. I think everybody knows it’s a lot easier to play in the offensive zone and it’s a lot more fun.”

Other than Comrie, the Jets rolled the same lineup against New Jersey as they did against Tampa Bay. Forward Adam Brooks and defencemen Ville Heinola were the healthy scratches. Forwards Cole Perfetti and Kristian Reichel, and defenceman Nathan Beaulieu, are sidelined with injuries.

“Our team did a really good job just keeping everything to the outside, they did a good job boxing out, collecting rebounds,” said Comrie. “We have a good team and in the locker room and it’s just a pleasure to play behind them, and they play hard every single night for me and for Helly. It’s a great group of guys and I’m just hoping we can keep a little streak going here.”

Winnipeg will now try to win three straight games for the first time since the start of January as they head to Long Island. They’ll also have a chance to pull within three points of idle Dallas. The road trip wraps on Sunday in St. Louis.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg