Hellebuyck, Jets shut out Predators
WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The Winnipeg Jets woke up in the second period and it was enough to snap a five-game losing streak with a 3-0 victory against the Nashville Predators on Sunday afternoon.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 42 shots in posting the shutout, his second of the season and fourth of his young career. He blocked 20 shots in the third period alone, many of them of the point-blank variety.
The Jets finally gave the fans reason to make noise when right winger Drew Stafford picked up a rebound from defenseman Jacob Trouba and wheeled around the net to stuff the puck behind Predators goalie Juuse Saros for his first of the season at 15:21 of the second period.
Saros, a Finn, was making just the third NHL start of his career.
Stafford was playing in just his third game back since missing 15 games with an upper-body injury.
Jets center Mark Scheifele put the game out of reach with his 12th goal of the season into an empty net at 19:18 of the third period and Adam Lowry followed just 32 seconds later with his sixth of the season with the Predators net still empty.
The Predators' best chance at leveling the score at one goal apiece came after Jets defenseman Mark Stuart took a four-minute penalty after accidentally high-sticking left winger Colin Wilson in the mouth at 4:23 of the third period. The Jets responded by putting on a shot-blocking clinic for the entire double minor and the last line of defense helped his own cause with a pair of reflex saves off Wilson and center Ryan Johansen in the dying seconds of the man advantage.
Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba got the second-biggest ovation of the night when he leveled Predators center Mike Ribeiro with an open-ice hit just inside the Jets blueline with less than five minutes to go in regulation.
NOTES: The Predators outshot the Jets 42-24. ... In one of the quickest turnarounds in the entire NHL this season, the Jets and Predators renewed hostilities in Winnipeg in a lunch time context just 43 hours after facing off against other in Nashville. The Predators won the first game 5-1. ... In the press box for the Jets were D Tyler Myers and C Alex Burmistrov. D Toby Enstrom returned home to Sweden a couple of days ago to deal with a family matter. ... Healthy scratches for the Predators were D Peter Granberg and LW Mike Liambas. ... There are a number of Winnipeg connections on the Predators. First, left winger Colin Wilson's grandfather, Gerry, a former Montreal Canadiens prospect, was credited with discovering the first wave of Swedes, including Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson and Lars-Erik Sjoberg, to come to the WHA Jets in 1974. Assistant coach Phil Housley starred with Jets in the early '90s, scoring 97 points in 1992-93 behind rookie scoring phenom Teemu Selanne, who scored a record 76 goals that year.