Connor's Power-Play Double Sinks Detroit as Jets Hold On, 3-2
Winnipeg scored three times on the man advantage and then survived a late Red Wings push to claim their first win of the season.
Two games into the season, Detroit's problem has a name: the penalty kill. The Winnipeg Jets went 3-for-4 on the power play at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday and beat the Red Wings 3-2, dropping Detroit to 0-2-0 while Winnipeg picked up its first win at 1-0-1.
The power play decided it
All three Winnipeg goals came with the man advantage. Cole Perfetti opened the scoring at 13:04 of the first period, and 92 seconds later Kyle Connor doubled the lead. Connor struck again on the power play at 5:41 of the second to make it 3-0 — his second of the night and, according to NHL.com, enough to pass Thomas Steen for fifth place on the Jets' all-time power-play goals list. Connor now has 19 points in 17 career games against Detroit, a team he keeps tormenting.
Detroit's rally falls one short
The Red Wings didn't fold. Viktor Arvidsson got one back on Detroit's own power play late in the second, and Emmitt Finnie made it 3-2 at 4:56 of the third. But Stuart Skinner shut the door from there, finishing with 33 saves for the win. Jets coach Scott Arniel credited his netminder afterward: "Your goalie has to be your best penalty-killer and he was definitely that for us tonight." John Gibson stopped 24 for Detroit.
The underlying numbers offer Detroit some comfort — the Wings outshot Winnipeg and went 1-for-5 on their own power play — but as the Detroit News noted, forward Lucas Raymond pointed to a lack of net-front traffic as the reason the pressure didn't convert.
What's next
Detroit gets a quick chance to reset: the Wings host Ottawa on Tuesday, part of a friendly early stretch with seven of their first eight games at home. Winnipeg leaves with two points and a power play that already looks midseason-sharp.