Combine brilliant goaltending with a highlight-reel winning tally and you have the perfect recipe for a celebration.
Thursday night at the Prudential Centre in Newark, N.J., Eric Comrie won his fourth straight start and Kyle Connor scored the winner with his 35th of the season as the Winnipeg Jets won their second straight game, beating the New Jersey Devils 2-1.
And while Connor's goal was as sweet as you'll see, it was Comrie's 60-minutes of brilliance that led the Jets to their 26th win of the season.
Comrie, who won his only start while a member of the Devils last season, improved to 7-2-1 this season as he won his fourth straight with the best effort of his NHL career. He stopped 33 shots on the night, but his biggest save scare in the second period when the Jets were beaten every which way by a quicker, sharper home side.
New Jersey outshot Winnipeg 11-7 in the second, but Comrie was simply too good. He ket the Jets in a 1-1 tie long enough for Connor to get loose at his own blue line and go in alone on Devils goalie Nico Dawes. Two dekes and a roof-shot later and the Jets had a 2-1 lead at the 19:06 mark of the second.
Comrie went on to stop all eight shots he faced in the third period as Winnipeg improved to 26-22-10 on the season.
"I don't know if I ever get dialled in, I just play it one puck at a time," Comrie said after the game. "I just go out there and focus on my process."
Defenceman Brenden Dillon gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 3:22 of the first period on a snap shot from the left face-off circle after taking a great pass from Mark Scheifele on a two-on-one rush. It was Dillon's second goal of the year.
Jersey's Jack Hughes tied the game at one with a power-play goal at 18:27 on a one-timer from the right face-off circle. The goal extended Hughes' home point streak to 13 games (21 points; nine goals, 12 assists). It was Hughes' 18th goal of the season.
Winnipeg is now 9-0-1 against New Jersey in the past 10 games, dating to back to Nov. 29, 2016.
New Jersey outshot Winnipeg 34-30, but the Jets won 62 per cent of the face-offs and outhit the Devils 17-10. Winnipeg went zero-for-two on the power play while the Devils were one-for-three. The Jets best line of the night belonged to Dillon who had a goal and was plus one with two shots, three hits and two blocked shots in 17 minutes and 54 seconds of ice time. Josh Morrissey logged 26:40 two lead the Jets in total ice time.
The Jets travel east across the Hudson River to play the second game of this three-game road trip on Friday night against the New York Islanders. Game time on TSN3 is 6:30 p.m.
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