Nikolaj Ehlers, surging Jets blow out Devils

Nikolaj Ehlers finished with a goal and two assists, leading the Winnipeg Jets to a 6-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night in Newark, N.J.

Josh Morrissey and Kyle Connor had a goal and helper each for the Jets, who are 21-11-0 on the road this season.

Alex Iafallo, Adam Lowry, and Cole Perfetti also scored for Winnipeg, which has won back-to-back games and improved to 13-2-1 over its last 16. Connor Hellebuyck made 22 saves for Winnipeg.

Dawson Mercer responded for the Devils, who have dropped three straight games and have just four wins over their last 11 (4-7-0). Jacob Markstrom stopped 29 shots in the loss.

Winnipeg outshot New Jersey 11-7 in the first period and led 1-0 after 20 minutes. Iafallo opened the scoring at 18:17, backhanding home the rebound off Colin Miller's point shot.

Winnipeg doubled its lead on a power play at 3:48 of the second period as Morrissey one-timed the rebound after Ehlers' shot.

Ehlers gave the Jets a three-goal lead with 30 seconds remaining in the second, snapping a shot blocker-side past Markstrom.

Mercer got New Jersey on the board 31 seconds into the third, one-timing a Johnathan Kovacevic feed past Hellebuyck.

The Jets restored their three-goal lead as Lowry stripped Simon Nemec of the puck and beat Markstrom glove-side at 11:56 of the third.

Connor made it 5-1, beating Markstrom with a wrist shot at 14:21 of the third.

Winnipeg took a 6-1 lead as Perfetti banked in the rebound off Dylan Samberg's point shot at 16:55 of the third.

Brandon Tanev, who spent parts of four seasons in Winnipeg, was re-acquired from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a 2027 second-round pick on Friday and was in the lineup. Tanev finished with a plus-1 rating in 11:28 of ice time.

Defenseman Brian Dumoulin, whom New Jersey acquired on Thursday from the Anaheim Ducks, made his Devils debut and had two hits in 16:17 of ice time.

Friday was the first of two meetings between the Devils and Jets in three weeks. The teams will reconvene in Winnipeg on March 28 to conclude the season series.

--Field Level Media