WINNIPEG, Manitoba _ You can start with the good because, in the longer-term view, it's more important to the Devils.
Rookie Miles Wood, 21, two years out of high school and recalled from Albany (AHL) on Monday after being scoreless in two NHL games earlier this season, was the Devils' best player, consistently creating havoc with his skating speed, scoring his first NHL goal and drawing a penalty shot, though he was unsuccessful. Plus, fellow rookie Nick Lappin scored as well.
Their projected development arc certainly bodes well for the Devils.
The shorter-term view, however, was less rosy as the Devils dropped their third straight _ the previous two were in overtime and a shootout _ as the Jets survived a wild third period for a 3-2 win on Tuesday night at MTS Centre.
The Devils (10-7-5), who opened this four-game road trip with a 4-3 shootout loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday and next face the Blackhawks on Thursday night, went 0-for-4 on the power play, though they killed off all five of the Jets' power plays, including a second-period five-on-three that lasted 1:41.
"The big thing I had to learn was not a lot, at this point, is in your control," Wood said of the lessons in his first professional season. "You can't control what the coaches do. You can't control what line you're on. The mental side of the game was something I had to learn, too."
In addition to his penalty shot, Wood also draw an interference call on Mark Stuart at 11:51 of the third period as he muscled past the defenseman.
Cory Schneider, with just one win in his last five starts, stopped 26 shots while Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves for the Jets (11-12-2).
Wood, who finished with two shots in 14:00 after being elevated to Adam Henrique's line with P.A. Parenteau in the first period, slipped a puck underneath Hellebuyck's pads to bring the Devils within 2-1 at 2:52 of the third period.
Lappin, with his fourth NHL goal, made it 3-2 at 7:58, backhanding in the rebound of Damon Severson's slap shot, after Calder Trophy candidate Patrik Laine beat Schneider over his blocker at 4:47.
Schneider's last two starts _ both at home _ were Wednesday's 5-4 shootout win over the Maple Leafs as the Devils rallied after trailing 3-0 through one period and Friday's 5-4 overtime loss to the Red Wings. That was nine goals allowed on 64 shots.
"I don't think it's far off," Schneider said. "I don't feel like I'm giving up bad goals left and right or head-scratchers every game where you kind of say, 'How'd that one go in?' But it's definitely not good enough. I know what my level of play needs to be."
He was helped out by some of that luck he believes has been missing on the Jets' five-on-three as Nikolaj Ehlers, then Laine hit the post on consecutive shots.
But the Jets opened a 2-0 lead with lookalike goals as Mark Scheifele, at the right post, knocked in the rebound of Dustin Byfuglien's shot at 11:20 of the second period and Blake Wheeler, in the same spot, did the same on the rebound of Andrew Copp's initial shot.
Wood drew a penalty shot at 14:33 as Josh Morrissey slashed him from behind on a breakaway. However, Wood chose to skate in deliberately on the penalty shot and in wide arcs, with Hellebuyck stopping him at the right post.
The Devils' best early chance in a mostly non-threatening first period for both teams came as Wood, using his high-end speed to get up the left wing and to the crease at 13:48. But Hellebuyck stuck with the puck as Wood applied the brakes and tried to slip it past him.
