The unbeaten Winnipeg Jets look to continue their torrid start when they host the inconsistent Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday afternoon.
Thanks to strong offense and Connor Hellebuyck’s impressive goaltending in each game, the Jets have opened with four straight wins, including two in overtime. Meanwhile, it’s been an inconsistent opening of the season for the Penguins.
After relying heavily on Hellebuyck in a pair of 2-1 overtime wins, the Jets gave him a relative breather on Friday night. In his 500th NHL start, Hellebucyk made 19 saves while the Jets rolled to an 8-3 home win over the winless San Jose Sharks.
Cole Perfetti (two goals, two assists), Neal Pionk (one goal, three assists) and Vladislav Namestnikov (one goal, three assists) each posted their first four-point output in the NHL. Nikolaj Ehlers added two goals and an assist as the Jets extend their regular-season win streak to 12 games going back to the 2023-24 regular season.
“Whenever you score, it gives you a boost of confidence,” Namestnikov said. “But in this league, you can’t get too high and you can’t get too low. We kind of enjoy the night tonight, but then move on to (the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday).”
The Jets converted 4-of-7 power-play opportunities and are 7-for-14 on the season.
Hellebuyck meanwhile enjoyed a less stressful night. After four games he has one shutout, a 1.25 goals-against-average and a .952 save percentage.
“We were due to help (Hellebuyck) out and score for him,” Perfetti said. “He’s bailed us out multiple times, so it was nice to do that for him in tonight’s game.”
Pittsburgh enters Sunday off a 4-1 home loss Friday to the Carolina Hurricanes. That loss came after a pair of high-energy wins in which the Penguins scored six goals each game.
That included a 6-5 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres in which Evgeni Malkin scored his 500th goal and Sidney Crosby scored in overtime and had two assists, passing 1,600 NHL points.
“We just got to look inward; everybody has got to look inward and bring a little bit more,” Penguins forward Lars Eller said Friday. “Everybody can be a leader and drag us into a game, whether it’s a goal, a hit or something. We need to find a way to drag ourselves into the game when we’re not emotionally there. We should be emotionally there, but I don’t think we were today.”
Drew O’Connor scored his third goal in six games to give the Penguins an early 1-0 lead and Joel Blomqvist made 35 saves in his third NHL start. Carolina responded and led 3-1 as the Penguins were outshot 28-11 through two periods.
Malkin and Crosby were each held without a shot on goal in the game.
“They just worked harder than us and got rewarded for it,” defenseman Kris Letang said. “Obviously, early on you want to find your identity, if you can call it that; what your team is going to be made of. You want to establish that really early. Right now, it’s like a roller coaster.”
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, who hasn’t played this season since sustaining a lower-body inuury in a Sept. 30 preseason game, will join the Penguins on its four-game Canadian road trip. He was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Saturday after a conditioning loan.
Pittsburgh’s situation would be helped if current backup goalie Tristan Jarry finds his game. He is 1-1-0 with a 5.47 GAA and an .836 save percentage.
The Penguins’ road trip also includes stops in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
–Field Level Media
