WINNIPEG, Manitoba — One word describes this home-and-home series for the Devils — pointless.
Andrew Ladd scored eight seconds into the game, matching a franchise mark, and finished with two goals and an assist to lead the Jets over the Devils 3-1 on Thursday night.
Ladd’s second goal came during a 4-on-4 situation and gave Winnipeg a 2-1 lead with eight minutes remaining. Dustin Byfuglien carried the puck all the way from behind his own net and attempted a wraparound before Ladd jammed the loose puck past Devils goalie Johan Hedberg.
Even after scoring two goals and tying a club record, all Ladd wanted to talk about was the end-to-end rush by Byfuglien.
“Buff did the leg work and I had to pick up the garbage,” said Ladd, who leads the Jets with 12 goals. “It was an unbelievable rush on his part and I just went to the net and found it.”
Blake Wheeler added an empty-net goal for the Jets, who have won three straight and five of six.
The Devils hadn’t played since Sunday when they lost at home to Winnipeg, but the extra rest didn’t show early as they managed just five shots in the first period.
“It’s frustrating,” forward David Clarkson said. “We’ve got to find a way to get out of this and start playing in the other team’s zone a little more.”
Andrei Loktionov had the lone goal for the slumping Devils, who have one win in their last six games after a fast start.
The Jets had three power plays in the second, including 56 seconds with a two-man advantage, but couldn’t generate much offense. They have just one power-play goal in their last 11 games.
The Devils also couldn’t score on three power plays of their own.
Neither goalie was busy, but Ondrej Pavelec needed to make some difficult saves to keep the Jets in the game. He made 22 stops, including a late one on Ilya Kovalchuk.
It took the Jets more than nine minutes to register their first shot of the third period. Hedberg finished with 18 saves.
Winnipeg opened the scoring before many fans had found their seats. Ladd went around the defense to pick up a bouncing puck and put a backhand past Hedberg just eight seconds after the opening faceoff.
“It’s unfortunate to put yourself in that hole off the bat,” Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. “But we had enough time to get ourselves back in the game and get the win.
“We created enough chances to score three or four tonight. We just need to put them in.”