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 Instead, goaltender Michael Hutchinson stopped every shot he faced,
center Bryan Little scored a tie-breaking short-handed goal and the
Jets pulled away in the third period for a 4-1 victory at Madison
Square Garden.
Hutchinson made 40 saves in all and Little added a second goal in
the third period, one day after an undisciplined performance in
Brooklyn led to a Jets loss against the Islanders. The Jets took
eight minor penalties during the first two periods against the
Islanders and allowed two power-play goals.
Against the Rangers, the Jets' penalty kill was flawless and the
power play clicked for two goals, including the first NHL goal for
right winger Nikolaj Ehlers, who pulled the Jets into a 1-1 tie less
than a minute after right winger Mats Zuccarello gave the Rangers a
1-0 lead 6:45 into the first period.
"Yeah, we ended up in some trouble in the second," Little said. "We
were in the box quite a bit and had to make some kills. The
short-handed goal got us going at the end of the second period and
gave us some jump in the third. I thought everyone did a great job
of killing penalties tonight."
The Jets (3-1-0) ended their season-opening four-game road trip on a
high note.
The Rangers (3-1-0) have had their issues with special teams in the
early going; they are 1-for-9 on the power play and have allowed
four power-play goals and a short-handed goal in their past three
games.
That's a small sample size but special teams made the difference
Tuesday.
"Special teams are so important," Rangers center Derek Stepan said.
"That's something, as a group, we'll get figured out. You can't get
too frustrated. No reason to panic yet."
If not for Hutchinson, the feeling in the Rangers' locker room may
have been different. Eight of Hutchinson's 20 second-period saves
were while the Jets were short-handed and he turned aside the final
35 shots he faced. Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, meanwhile,
faced only 28 shots.
Almost as important as Hutchinson's stalwart play was the timing of
Ehlers' goal, which came seven seconds into the Jets' first power
play of the game.
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"One of the things we worked on last year was being resilient,"
Hutchinson said. "The game's not always going to be smooth for the
full 60 minutes and we faced some adversity. They score on the
3-on-1 and to answer that is he for our team, especially with one of
our guys getting their first goal."
The Jets stayed out of the penalty box in the third while the
Rangers were whistled for three penalties. It was after center
Derick Brassard was called for slashing that Little took advantage
of some disorganized play to wire a slap shot past Lundqvist to give
the Jets a 3-1 lead with 9:25 remaining.
Defenseman Mark Stuart added an empty-netter with 2:04 left to send
the Jets back home feeling good.
"I really liked our composure," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "We
didn't lose our focus and our kill got stronger. It's a real nice
payoff for doing the right things."
"The special teams, they stepped up," Lundqvist said. "They won them
the game."
NOTES: Jets D Adam Pardy played in his first game of the season,
taking the place of D Ben Chiarot, who took two minor penalties in
the Jets' 4-2 loss to the Islanders on Monday. ... Jets D Paul
Postma and RW Anthony Peluso were scratched. ... Rangers D Dylan
McIlrath made his season debut, assuming the spot of D Dan Boyle.
Signed to a two-year, $9 million contract last summer, the
39-year-old Boyle has one assist in three games this season. ... The
Rangers also scratched RW Emerson Etem and RW Jesper Fast.
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