Jets Get Back in the Win Column with 4-2 Victory Over New York

The Winnipeg Jets improved to 29-10-4 with a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

After dropping their first game in nine on Saturday, the Winnipeg Jets bounced back with a 4-2 victory over a worn out New York Islanders team on Tuesday night from downtown Winnipeg. 

Mason Appleton scored the winner, while Gabe Vilardi, Neal Pionk and Kyle Connor each scored for the Jets, as Connor Hellebuyck picked up victory No. 22 on the season, helping push Winnipeg back into first-place, league-wide. 

"When you go on such a long win streak and then you drop one game, you want to get right back to your winning ways," Appleton said postgame. 

Tuesday evening also marked the first game back from injury for Connor, while also serving as the end of the Jets' four-game homestand. Connor helped setup the Jets' opening goal of the game before scoring an empty-netter for his first goal in five weeks for the team's goal scoring leader. 

Interestingly, Tuesday's game was also the second of nine-straight against Eastern Conference clubs. 

And of course, the Jets extended their streak of 33-straight games allowing just three or fewer goals against, and 13-straight games allowing just two or fewer goals against.

Vilardi opened the scoring for Winnipeg near the midway mark of the first. It was Connor who started the play, keeping the puck alive in the offensive zone, before dishing it back to Josh Morrissey.

The 2023 NHL All-Star put it on net, to which Adam Lowry perfectly deflected it off Vilardi and past Ilya Sorokin for the 1-0 marker and his 11th of the season. 

The Islanders tied things up just two seconds after Dylan DeMelo exited the penalty box for a tripping minor. A long-range Mike Reilly point shot was deflected in front by veteran Anders Lee, who made it 1-1 with 4:07 left in the frame.

Winnipeg led 13-11 on the shot chart through 20 minutes of play. 

But it was the late stages of the middle stanza to which the Jets began to pull away. Whether it was the Islanders' slow legs catching up to them, or a lucky break for the home team, Winnipeg scored two in short measure, giving the Jets a 3-1 lead through 40 minutes. 

First, it was a strange play, to which a Cole Perfetti shot broke the skate blade off Sorokin's toe, leaving him unable to manuevre his way through the crease. With the Jets on a power play, the team simply got the puck across the ice to Pionk, who had a wide-open net at his disposal. He didn't miss, handing the Jets their second lead of the game.

Then, just moments later, Appleton scored his first goal in 26 games, as he banked the puck through Sorokin, short-side from behind the goal line.

“When you have quite the streak of not scoring, you’ve just gotta get a greasy one around the net," Appleton said. That was kind of funny how that one went in, but I’ll certainly take it.”

The goal was replicated by New York on an eerily similar play at the same end of the ice just 35 seconds into the third, as Lee found his second of the game before even a minute had ticked off the clock. 

The Jets' netminder remained solid as the minutes drained down, stopping everything else he faced in the final period, turning aside 36 of the Islanders' 38 shots on the evening, while Sorokin made 40 stops on the 43 pucks he faced.

Connor put his 18th of the season into an empty net with 1:22 remaining, sealing the deal on the 4-2 win. 

Next up for Winnipeg is a three-game Eastern Conference road trip, to which the team makes stops in Ottawa, Boston and Toronto, before returning home on the 27th for a tilt against the very same Maple Leafs.